Sophia
by Zoroarkkkk
Summary: Sophia ran through the woods, holding back cries of terror. Doing her best to stay ahead of the horrors that laid within the trees. Weaving in and out of the trees, clutching onto her doll, she kept glancing behind her, watching for when they may catch up to her. She kept the sun on her left shoulder like he said, after the dead had found her. "This is how we both survive."
1. Chapter 1

Sophia ran through the woods, holding back cries of terror. Doing her best to stay ahead of the horrors that laid within the trees. Weaving in and out of the trees, clutching onto her doll, she kept glancing behind her, watching for when they may catch up to her. She kept the sun on her left shoulder like he said, after the dead had found her. "This is how we both survive." Sophia just hoped that Rick was right.

Staying quiet, she knew it was stupid to leave the safety of the tree roots, but she couldn't help but feel even more terrified standing in one place. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she continued to run. She wanted to see her mother again, she wanted to see Carl, she wanted to feel safe. Sophia wanted to survive.

About an hour later, Sophia was helplessly lost. The sun had begin to set on her left, and there was no sign of the freeway, and by then, she was second guessing what she had heard. ' _Did he say left shoulder, or right?'_ Stressing out, she couldn't hold back the shriek of fright as she came across another zombie. It turned towards her, snarling and moaning, reaching for her with one outstretched hand, the other arm must have fallen off ages ago, as there was no limb in sight.

Scrambling to get away, she turned away from the zombie who had been directly in her path, to the left, nearly turning 180 degrees. Still clutching her doll, she tried to speed up, feet pounding the dirt, hair flying.

Slowly, the moans grew quieter behind her, and Sophia took a chance to lean on a tree and look around. It all looked the same as she had seen for the last hour she had been running, she took that as the moment, she knew she was lost.

Briefly, she considered remaining where she was, after all, she could remember all the times that her mother had told her different safety precautions. ' _If you get lost, or separated from me, stay where you are.'_ This was different though, it had to be. The one time she had gotten lost in the supermarket, there weren't dead people wandering around, trying to kill her. Suddenly, a mangled hand grabbed at her, clutching at her collar.

"Mom! Help! Please!" She sobbed, pushing away from the tree, trying to get away from the zombie. The dirty fingernails dug into her shirt, trying to bring Sophia closer to the rotting teeth. With tears running down her cheeks she stepped backwards, only to not feel anything below her feet. Shrieking loudly, she gasped for air as she tumbled backwards, bringing the zombie with her.

She clawed at the the hillside as she fell, trying to find any surface, she didn't want to die, she couldn't. Forced to drop her doll, her shoulder popped as she managed to grab ahold of a root, hanging from the cliff side. The zombie, which no longer had any muscle fell to the earth below with a disgusting squish, leaving the girl hanging by one hand.

An angry flare of pain shot up her arm, something was definitely wrong with her shoulder. Grabbing the root with her good arm, she let go with the bad, relieving some of the pain. However, she was hopelessly alone, she couldn't even hope to climb up. As she began slipping, she heard twigs snapping above her.


	2. Chapter 2

Sophia's instincts didn't give her push of a choice in the matter, on whether or not to be cautious. Anyone could be up there, dead or alive, good or bad. Either way, there was only a moment between her holding her breath, and calling for help.

"Is someone up there? Please! Help me!" Heart racing, pulse ringing in her ears, shoulder throbbing with every second, palms sweaty, why did she run away from the group? A messy head of black hair peaked over the cliff, wide eyes looked down at her.

"Bella! You have to help her!" The boy whisper shouted, now nearly as freaked out as Sophia was. An older girl, who looked similar to the young boy, came into view.

"Hold on! We'll help you, but you have to be quiet, there's a bunch of the walkers around." Bella hissed, and Sophia obediently clamped her mouth shut, trying to force her sobs down. "Ren, try to calm her down. I'll find something to get her." The girl order the boy, who quickly turned to Sophia, fear almost hidden by his fake grin.

"Hey, I'm Ren, and this is my sister Bella. She's really smart." Ren smiled proudly, before looking down at Sophia. "Is something wrong with your arm?" Her left arm hung uselessly beside her. Unable to trust her voice at the moment, she tearfully nodded.

"Here, this should be strong enough." Bella threw a long vine over the cliff side. "Okay, you're going to need to hang on tight, even if your arm hurts. We'll pull you up." It must have been about as big around as her forearm, and she couldn't muster up the courage to let go of one branch for another.

"I c-can't." Sophia's voice broke tearfully, but she was slipping slowly.

"That branch won't hold you forever, just trust us," Ren asked, fear in his own voice, so, just as she slid a little further down, she lifted her bad shoulder, cringing at the pain, and wrapped her hand around the vine. "There you go," With the quiet urging, she mover her other hand.

In a scary moment, she could feel gravity pulling her down, and for a moment, she thought the pair were going to drop her. She swayed back and forth, and slowly began to rise. Branches scrapped her body, tearing the clothes she wore, but she didn't care as soon as warm hands engulfed her.

"You're safe." Bella whispered, patting Sophia in a reassuring manner. The young girl sobbed into the leather jacket, hugging the stranger. She was sure she was going to die, and after seeing so many awful people kill each other, she didn't want to trust them, but they just pulled her back from the brink of disaster.

\- - Sophia- -

After an unknown amount of time, Sophia stood up, clutching her arm. It still throbbed, but Bella had surprised her by suddenly jerking it, and with an awful pop, it went back into place.

"What's your name?" Ren asked, grinning at the girl. He seemed awfully chipper to be in the end of the world, but Sophia didn't complain. It was nice to see smiles now.

"Sophia." As she quieted, far off groans and moans could be heard, immediately frightening the small group.

"Let's move." Bella took the kid's hands, one of each so they ran right beside her. "Stay quiet, watch where you step." Sophia nodded, listening to the orders. They ran in the opposite direction, and Sophia watched the ground carefully.

As they rounded a tree, she was suddenly pulled into Bella's figure, one hand wrapped around her mouth. Knowing what the action could mean, the small girl, quieted, stopping her breathing and her heart raced. Beside her, she saw Bella's other hand covering Ren's mouth, his eyes just as wide as hers.

A sudden noise surprised Sophia, who resisted the urge to look around the tree that hid them. After a few moments, a man, one she didn't recognize passed them. He carried a gun, and was pretty heavy looking. A giant, she realized she would not want to come across on her own. The gun was big and heavy, something one of the men in the camp may carry. He passed them without looking towards them, seemingly distant from his surroundings.

Bella waited a full five minutes after he disappeared from sight, before carefully pulling her younger charges along with her. Distantly, Sophia wanted to turn back and warn her mom about the mystery man, but she couldn't help but ignore that wish.

She was nothing but a weight to their group. She screamed and alerted the zombies to their location. She endangered everyone. She wasn't strong, she was weak. Sophia vowed as she held Bella's hand, that she would learn to be fearless like Bella, she would learn how to survive without her mother. This is how both her and her mother would survive.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time that the sun had set, Sophia's feet ached, but she didn't dare comment on it. Instead, she and Ren allowed themselves to be pulled along by Bella.

"We'll camp here." It was a clearing, pretty big, big enough that if a zombie broke through the tree line, they would have enough time to notice. Sophia was about to question what it was they were doing exactly when Ren moved to climb a large tree. He moved with practiced ease, up and up, never even stopping to doubt which branch to grab, when he suddenly pushed a few hidden bags out of the tree.

"Here you go Bella." The young boy chirped happily, before jumping down.

"Show Sophia how to start a fire, and boil the water we got. I'm going to set up noise alerts." The teenager wandered away from the two kids after grabbing a plastic bag that rattled with every moment.

"Here, we'll start over here. Have you ever built a fire?" Sophia shook her head no, she never had a chance to learn before her father died, and since then, the group had been moving constantly. "How old are you? I know Bella always said that you shouldn't ask girls how old they are, but I really want to know. Oh, by the way, I'm eleven, and Bella's eighteen." He grinned manically as he blabbered on, he was setting up some logs that had already been gathered. "See, then you put them together like this, but you have to leave a space open on the bottom."

"I'm ten." Sophia was glad to take the orders from Ren, she wanted to busy herself with something, anything. Ren grin grew even bigger, and he shifted to grab a metal pot, maybe three feet across before pouring a canteen that had hung around his neck into the pot. "So, is Bella your sister?" Ren smiled proudly, before nodding happily.

"She's really smart and stuff. And brave. We're going up north, cause she thinks that in the winter the walkers are gonna be really slow, and even dumber. So, that's where we're going. Wanna come with us?" Ren seemed like a good kid, nicer than all the boys that she had met in school, besides, Bella seemed really cool.

"If you'll let me." The black haired kid nodded excitedly, while picking up another stick. "Really? You're okay with that?"

"Come along with us, we could use another person to help." Bella came out of the woods as she spoke, startling both kids. She grinned at the younger kids before showing off a plastic dish of berries. "Found them off that way, they're a type of blueberries. They're okay to eat." She sat down beside the younger children, smiling as she did so and offered the berries up.

"So, Sophia, have you ever stuck blueberries up your nose?"

\- - SRB - -

The next morning, Sophia awoke before Bella did. They each took turns on watch, which was a new idea to Sophia. Before, with Shane and her mother's group, she had always just cuddled with her mom through the night. But now? She had volunteered to take the first watch, and woke Bella when she felt like she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

Ren yawned, and waved, but despite his tiredness, he was still chipper. He had grass blades in his fingers, weaving them together in a braid-like fashion.

"So, have you ever fired a gun? Bella won't let me near her pistol, says that I could easily hurt myself." Speaking quieter than usual, Sophia could bet he really didn't want Bella to hear his questions.

"But, shouldn't you be able to have a weapon?" If it was just the two of them, why would Bella let her brother alone without a way to arm himself. He began to dig around in his pockets, before going up with a pronged metal stick, that had rubber between the sticks. "I'm getting pretty handy with this thing."

"A slingshot?" Sophia could recognize an item that was popular in a lot of old TV shows, but was it actually a good weapon in the zombie apocalypse?

"Hey, don't be doubtful. It's actually pretty amazing." He picked up something that sat beside him, before pulling the rubber back. "Watch that flower." There, about thirty feet away, a yellow flower was blooming. With a zip of the air, the flower was hit, dislodging it from the ground.

"Nice shot." She mumbled, now beginning to realize that she didn't even have a slingshot, she had nothing to arm herself with. Swallowing back her doubt, she turned to the canteen and picked the water up.

"Well, have you ever shot a gun?" Cool water rushed down her throat, quenching the thirst that had risen long before the sun did. Careful to only drink her share, she met the curious eyes of her friend.

"I promised you that you would never have to use a gun, and that promise is going to extend to you. Guns are an awful invention, they are an ugly piece of the world. Now, don't ask our newest friend if she had to dirty her hands, we'll find Sophia her own weapon." Bella sat up, giving her brother a hardened glare. "Let's keep moving."

\- - SRB- -

The three ventured in the complete opposite direction of a larger group, by accident of course. They figured this was the best course of action, one that could save them, because after all, it seemed that zombies had been congregating in that direction, and Bella couldn't stand to put her newest charge in that kind of danger. One other thing she couldn't stand? Leaving her brother anywhere close to where their mother's last stand had been, this was the best place, anywhere but back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry, I know it is really short, but I swear the next few chapters will be much longer. I'm used to having a lot done so I can update an** **already written chapter on the days I work. But, I want to thank those of you who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story!**

Now, Sophia stood on a hill, about twenty miles from where she had last seen any of her former group, and she couldn't help but worry. Was her mother alright? How about Carl? Were all of them okay, and were they worrying about her as well?

"So, are you just gonna sit there all day?" Ren frowned at her, pouting as they looked out over the fields. Bella had promised to return by nightfall, she was going to go look for a safe spot to camp out for a few days. The blonde haired girl was a little nervous to have Bella leave them, the eldest didn't have anyone to watch her back.

"No," Giving Ren a raspberry, who stuck his tongue out too, they both glared at each other. "I'm just watching for anything." Sophia continued to look out, so far, she hadn't seen any walkers, which had to be a good thing.

"Well, I'm supposed to teach you how to use a slingshot, but you aren't even watching me." He whined while shooting another pebble down at the ground, hitting the makeshift target. It was a ring of stones, three rings in fact, the smaller sitting in the middle of the next larger one. "You think you could go pick those up?" The two were seated on a low hanging branch, kicking the air, and the bag that usually held marbles or pebbles now was empty.

"You're the one that shot 'em," Narrowing her eyes playfully, she managed to claw her way to the trunk of the tree, her left foot finding a niche she had used to climb up. "I get to shoot these then." Watchful of her surroundings, she felt somewhat safe with Ren watching her back. While they fought playfully, he was nice.

There had to be at least 50 stones that littered the ground, almost all sat within the smallest circle, Ren was clearly a good shot, and Sophia wondered idly if he had a slingshot before all of this had begun.

\- - Sophia - -

Before long, Sophia sat next to Ren, sighing in frustration as yet another pebble landed far from where she had intended it to land. He made it look so easy, but every time she pulled the rubber back, it soared awkwardly through the air.

"Do you think Bella would train me how to use a gun?" Asking hopefully, she couldn't think of how she could learn to use a slingshot like Ren had, and as well as he did too. At this rate, she would never progress to a level where she could actually help.

"No way. You heard her, no guns. Maybe you could learn to use something else." She shot an odd, rusty brown-colored rock, and it didn't even travel three feet before nosediving into the dirt.

"This sucks."

\- - Sophia - -

Bella kept her word, and just before the sun was consumed by the horizon, she came into view, carrying two backpacks which she hadn't left with. She had some new bloodstains on her, (hopefully not her own) clothes, but otherwise looked healthy.

"Hey guys, how'd learning how to use a sling shot go?" Sophia kicked the ground, shrugging. Ashamed to admit she hadn't made any headway was embarrassing. How was Sophia supposed to expect these two strangers to keep her around if she couldn't shoot a kid's toy. "That bad huh? Ren, would you go organize these? I want to have a chance to talk to Sophia." After she handed the bag off to her brother, Bella sat down, and patted the grass beside her. "Can I tell you a story? A story of a girl, one who had to find courage?"


	5. Author's Note

**Hey, I'm sorry this isn't a chapter, but I needed to let all my readers know that until further notice, my updates won't be daily. I just found out that I have to undergo brain surgery in the next few days. So, until I recover, updates won't be periodic, only when/if I have time. Thank you in advance for your understanding, and I really want to thank everyone who has been reading my stories. I really do enjoy writing, and seeing your feedback even more. I'm so sorry everything will be out of wack, but I'm freaking out a bit already at everything else.**

 **Thank you, Everyone**

 **Zoroarkkk**


	6. Chapter 5

"I used to be pretty selfish, and I'll admit, I still am in some ways," Bella began as she stared into the fire pit, the burning embers flared at her words. "But, when this all started, when everything went to shit," Sophia flinched slightly at her crude word choice, but didn't say anything. "It was me, Ren, and my mother." Ren looked down at the mention of their mother, even if he was supposed to be out of hearing shot.

It made her wonder where her mother was, and how she was doing now that she had lost her husband and her daughter. Blinking away her own tears, she instead focused on Bella. This was important, she was about to tell her something personal.

"Our dad died when Ren was two, and my mom had to learn to make it work. She did a fantastic job too. Handling a teenager and a young boy couldn't have been easy as a single mom. She worked over time, held two jobs, and still managed to pull together two different savings accounts for Ren and I. Of course, that means nothing now." The older girl frowned, but shook her head as if to push away the terrible memories. "It all seems pretty stupid now. My mom had devoted almost 20 years of her life putting away money that would never be used, it's just gone. And for what?"

The ten year old continued to examine the ground, she didn't understand. Her mother clearly loved them, why did Bella sound so angry? But, the way her words sounded made Sophia notice the chills and fears creeping up her spine.

"But, when everything happened, my mom packed us both up in the car, taking everything we could carry that could be helpful. She was smart like that, the first thing she did as fill every canister in the house full of water." She laughed lightly, throwing a small branch into the fire pit. "We moved quickly, trying to get away from everyone. We ended up in an abandoned hotel. The top floors were completely empty." Ren came to sit beside the girls, but Bella didn't say anything. Instead, she just gave Ren the saddest look Sophia had ever seen. It was like her eyes were made of pure sorrow, but no tears fell.

It took Bella few moments to say anything after that, the silence chilling the blonde haired girl to the bone. The fire seemed to consume the oxygen around them, up until the point where Sophia felt like she was suffocating.

"My mom found a gun amongst all of the luggage left over. It was in the main entry way. She taught me to fight with clubs and other blunt objects. But, she always used the gun. Ren had his slingshot." The slingshot laid out next to the fire, the metal glinting in the fading light of the fire. Hours before, she had helped Ren collect small pebbles for the weapon.

"I got it from our uncle for my ninth birthday. Mom was so mad." He smiled lightly at the recollection, before his face hardened.

"We must have been there for about 2 weeks, eating our fill, getting some sleep. But then, they came." By now, Sophia could guess what happened, but didn't want to accept it either. It was a given, considering what had happened to the world she had grown up in. "One must have wandered in, into our room I mean. Ren was on the roof at the time, I was on guard."

"You didn't see it get past you?" Mind spinning, as far as she could tell, Bella was smart enough not to miss something like that.

"No." Voice ice cold, she let it go, not willing to get into an argument over that. "Mom brought down three walkers before she was over run, I had fight a few before I could make it to her. By then it was too late." With the world quiet, Sophia remained silent, sorry for their loss. Ren was sobbing silently beside her, his face shoved into a sweatshirt so he couldn't be heard, but his shoulders shaking were an obvious give away. Wrapping her arms around her new friend, she hoped she gave good hugs. Her mom had always given good hugs, ones that made her feel safe, especially when her father was angry.

"I lost my mom and dad." It felt like they were lost. Well, her father certainly was, not that she was sad about that. She had always had to see her mom get hurt, but without her, she felt lonely, even with two people beside her.

"I'm sorry Sophia. But we've got each other now." Bella smiled, moving over beside the smaller kids, hugging them. "We've got each other, and that's enough to fight." Bella's words rang through Sophia's mind for the rest of the night. Bella was right, they could fight together, so long as Sophia learned how to fight. She vowed that she would learn how to protect everyone she cared about, plus, anyone who needed her help. Because, after all, Bella and Ren had helped her, a complete stranger. Favors needed to be returned, who knows however many other people needed help, just like she did.

 **Thank you for all your support and favorites! Love you all!**


	7. Chapter 6

**I'm back guys! the story will be picking up, and Sophia will be growing stronger, I swear. But, sorry for the long wait, and I don't anticipate being a long wait between this chapter and the next. Thank you all for the favorites and reviews, especially the good wishes. Love you all. -Zoroark**

Over the course of the next few days, Bella taught Sophia quite a few skills. First, they were scavenging the woods for food, not only the random camps they came across, but as well as the wide array of knowledge Bella knew about plant life.

"See, look at this tree." Bella pointed to a seemingly random tree in their path. She spoke quietly, carefully not to alert anything near them, but Ren and Sophia hung on every word. "What can you notice?" Sophia examined the tree, to be honest, it looked like every other tree around them The same dark bark, green leaves, towering over them, with no hope of them seeing the blue sky.

"I dunno. It has buds on the leaves." Ren pointed, and like he said, there were buds growing on the end of each branch. They looked kind of like green pods.

"See this sap here?" There was a hole in the bark, maybe about eye level for Bella. A milky-white substance was leaking out, and in a deep part of her memory, Sophia could remember maple syrup was from trees. "Its discolored, it should look like this. So, this way you know it could be harmful to you, and you can assume the growth on the trees are harmful too." Sophia nodded, now looking at the potentially harmful tree.

"Do you think its more dangerous to eat the tree, or have it fall on you?" Ren cracked a smile, grinning at his companions, and Sophia burst into laughter. Bella tried to hide a smile, and walked away, looking at the small amounts of undergrowth that managed to grow under the shade of the trees. "Bella, what's the answer?" Ren chased after her, and Sophia had to jog to keep up with them, laughing the whole way.

\- - Sophia- -

"This is Amaranth. You can boil it, or eat it raw." Sitting beside their fire, Sophia was helping Bella fish the weeds out of the water. On the other side of them, Ren was keeping the fire going by adding some greens to the fire. It had rained that day, leaving the entire forest wet. But, the leaves they had received were relatively dry, as they grew on tree trunks, keeping the majority of the water off from the canopy.

Patting the leaves dry with a towel, Sophia took an experimental bite of the leaves, not finding it too terrible. It was better than eating the moldy food they had found the previous couple days. Sophia didn't even see or hear them coming, but before she knew it, Bella was standing, gun pointed into the darkness of the trees, standing protectively before Sophia and Ren.

"Ooo, look what we have here Bill." A scratchy voice chuckled darkly, and two men emerged out of the woods. Both were filthy looking, older than Bella by a lot, maybe her mother's age. The one who spoke had an unlit cigarette in between his lips, smirking at the children. The other was eying their campfire and watching Bella.

"You're a pretty lady miss. Don't see many of 'em any more." The other man, Bill, Sophia gathered grinned darkly, and his tone sent chills up the young girl's spine. Instinctively, she grabbed Ren's hand, and he was shaking.

"Leave, and I won't shoot. We've just got the one gun, not even much ammo. But, I won't fail to take you down." Bella's voice was firm, her hand steady as she faced down the strange men.

"Ah, look here girly. We're in charge. I think you need a big strong man to take care of ya. See, come with us, and you and your babies will be safe, we'll keep ya nice and warm." The man spoke, and miraculously, his cigarette didn't fall from his lips. He walked closer a few steps, his gun raised in a perfect reflection to Bella's.

Sophia huddled into Ren's embrace, cared of what these strange men would do. they didn't seem nice, they were scary. But, she held back her tears, she knew Bella would protect them.

"They are actually children, much older than babies. We are fine on our own." Her black hair reflected the light of the campfire, her voice strong as she clicked the safety off. "I'm serious, I will blow you and your friend away."

"Ha, little girl like you don't have that much of a reaction time. Or, would you like to test it, and Billy here can aim at your babies?" Billy took aim, and slowly, his gun moved to point behind Bella, this gun was much bigger than Bella's, much scarier.

"What's it gonna be little girl? Let Mark and I take care of ya, or we'll kill your little ones, and keep you for ourselves?" Billy smirked, and Sophia shrunk back. She knew she didn't understand everything going on, but she could see they were acting a lot like her father had always acted towards her mom, and she didn't like it. Slowly, Bella lowered the gun, and took Ren's hand in the other.

"Would you like something to eat?"


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry guys! When I uploaded yesterday, I thought I finished the sequence with Billy and Mark, but it must not have all copied! So here's the rest of it, with some more! Thank you so much for everything guys! This story is turning out beautifully only because I have you as an audience.**

Turns out, the two strangers were hungry. So, Bella gave them what was left of their normal provisions. Sophia and Ren sat off to the side, both of the men were only paying attention to Bella. The two kids were given the 'boiled spinach' to keep them quiet, and they nervously watched the men interact with their guardian.

"Billy, give our girl here a swig of that." Mark laughed boisterously, pointing to the bottle that currently sat between his buddy's lips. The strong stench of alcohol had quickly consumed their camp, and the red faced man gave Bella the brown bottle.

"Why, thank you for your kindness." Bella grinned, showing a full smile before she took a drink. It was odd, watching Bella, she seemed to have dropped her careful attitude now, instead, she gladly spoke with the men. They both got increasingly closer to her, throwing their arms around her waist, touching her hair.

"No problem honey. See with a few carefully placed words, any girly like you will follow men. It's just your place." The big man's grin was sickening, and Sophia whimpered quietly into Ren's shoulder.

"What is your sister doing?" Careful not to draw attention to herself, she watched Ren's face for any sign that he knew what she was doing.

"I don't know," He whimpered, they were far enough out from the campfire that the cold was seeping into their bones. "But, we have to trust her, she knows what she's doing." As he spoke, Mark forced Bella into a kiss. She pulled away quickly, and grabbed the leaves from the ground, presenting them to the men.

"Here, try these, they're better than any drug. I was planning on sneaking them without the kids around, but, now might just do the trick." She held up the leaves they had planned on using as fuel for the fire, and picked one off the stem and put it in her mouth.

Sophia looked at Ren, who shared her confused look. The men, without question popped a few in their mouths, laughing about something only they understood. Bella held out a few more to them, her offering.

In no time, they were shoveling the leaves down, laughing the entire time. They slowly became more confused, groggy. Billy fell to the ground first, Mark followed after only a moment, then Bella spit out a leaf and rubbed the slobber from the mens' kisses from her lips.

"Get up, pack your bags. We need to get out of here, now." Bella pulled the two into her embrace, breathing out a sigh of relief, no stench of alcohol on her breath. "I'm sorry if I worried you. I had to play them." Bella nodded, tears in her eyes as she hugged her in return.

As Bella backed up, on her mission to get her things, Sophia noted the fact that white goo was oozing out from the stranger's mouths, their eyes wide open.

By the time Ren and Sophia had their things all packed up, they failed to notice the holes in the men's heads, preventing them from turning zombie. They left in a hurry, careful to make no noise, more suspicious of the world around them.

\- - Sophia- -

A few days later, the group had found a small shed, inside were what had been two horse stalls, now, just a few bales of hay, a few blankets, an empty water trough, and a few brooms.

"Alright, we'll sleep here for the night, and in the morning, we'll figure out where to go next." Bella quickly helped them lay out the blankets over the bales of hay, setting up some of the most comfortable bedding Sophia has had in awhile. Hunger was biting at her stomach, but didn't dare say a word, after seeing those two men poisoned… that was a terrifying image in her mind. They had been running non stop, barely stoping to sleep, and certainly not to eat. Not to mention, all their food had already been consumed.

So, Sophia curled up that night, exhausted, hungry, and scared. But, at least it was warm. Lying awake, Ren quickly fell asleep, his soft snores lulled the room into a peaceful quiet, but not too quiet. Bella had placed the trough in front of the doors, it was heavy enough that any walker wouldn't be able to push through, and any human would be discouraged to come in. Bella was sound asleep, closest to the door, like she was their shield. Her hair was pulled into a braid, one that Sophia had done for her when she had complained of it getting in her face.

Silently, Sophia wished that she had her doll, her mom, anything to remind her of home. It was scary moving every day, seeing the husks of what used to be people walk around after death, trying to eat other people. She could remember the first walker they had seen. It had been a horrific sight.

 _It happened in the middle of the night. Sophia was sound asleep, when her mom came into her room, shaking her awake. As quietly as possible, Carol spoke, her kind voice urgent._

 _"Sophia, honey. Pack a bag, full of clothes, be quick." Confused, Sophia nodded, but got up anyways. Her mom ran out of the room, and soon her father could be heard yelling._

 _Throwing her favorite clothes in the bag, she stopped when she spotted her doll on the bed, next to the unmade covers. Stopping, she set the bag down, scrambling to fix the sheets. Father always hated it when they were messy, she didn't want her mom to get in trouble for it. After making her bed, she grabbed her doll, and turned to the door, just in time for Carol to rush in, and escort her out the door. They all had a bag on their back, her mom had three others, each were filled with food from the kitchen._

 _"Come on, let's go." Carol went first, walking down the stairs carefully, dragging Sophia along behind her, while her father made up the rear. She could still smell the stink of alcohol on him, a scent that never seemed to fade. Yes, sometimes it would smell a little different, depending on if he had a different bottle or can, but the underlying scent of chemicals still remained._

 _Stuck in thought, Sophia didn't realize her mother had opened the front door, until a small eek of surprise came from her mom. On the porch, Sophia saw the first undead._

 _It was their neighbor, Mrs. Havver. She was nice, she always gave Sophia candy if her dad wasn't home, and let her pet her dogs. It was like she was gasping for air, her eyes were a deep red, some blood was on her clothes, mainly on the left side where some of her skin was missing._

 _Carol slammed the door._

 _"Let's go through the garage."_


	9. Sorry guys

**I am so sorry guys! I certainly did not mean to leave this story on hiatus for so long, but life got in the way! I just wanna quick apologize, and then, ask a question. It's been on my mind a lot recently, and not sure how I want to go about it, should Sophia meet back up with Rick and the group, and if so, when? I've got a couple story lines in mind, so not sure which one to go with! Loves!**


	10. Chapter 10 (cause numbers line up)

The next morning came, and Ren and Sophia were trying to hit something with a broom. Neither were tall enough, as they stood on the tips of their feet, whispering curses under their breaths.

"You're taller than me!" Ren whisper shouted, pushing the broom into Sophia's hands. She frowned, but none-the-less took it, and tried to extend as tall as she could. Behind them, Bella slept. She clearly was exhausted, they all were after running for a couple days straight. But, curiosity got the better of the smaller children, it always does. High up in the rafters, there was a rope, and something that looked like a stick. "You're almost there." Ren was nearly vibrating in excitement.

"It's too high up." Sophia whispered back. Jumping in place, trying to snag the rope. "I'm almost there!" And in a huge crash, (in retrospect, it was no more louder than a book falling on carpet, but in the silence, it was deafening.) a rope ladder fell, barely any slack laid on the ground.

In a moment's notice, Bella was on her feet, pointing the gun to the blockaded door. Ren and Sophia cringed, waiting for the eldest to turn back to them.

"Um. Ta-da." Ren giggled a little, and Sophia had to chuckle slightly. Bella's braid was stuck to her cheek, eyes a little disorientated as she spun around. "Look, we found a ladder." The teenager blinked, lowered the gun, and sighed in relief.

"For god's sake you two. Scared me." Sophia took that as a sign to go to the ladder, and did just that. They were just like the ones that were at the park at school. But, at the top of this one there probably wasn't a slide.

"Bella." Ren had a dreamy look on his face, looking to his sister who had sat down, and was opening a can of peaches. "Do you remember our tree house?" First step, one hand, one foot. Reaching for the next rung, Sophia smiled to herself. If only this was at school. All of her friends, the teachers… they were so nice, even the guy teachers… nothing like her father. The place wasn't too tall. Not much ladder to work with. "The one uncle Jet built with us."

"Yes. It was a very pretty place, wasn't it?" Bella sighed longingly. And with only a few more steps, her eyes peaked over the landing. Perhaps no bigger than 6 by 6 feet, a couple blankets were balled up, along with a small box.

"I'm gonna throw down some stuff." Sophia called softly, and grabbed the blankets, only to gasp in surprise. Nested in the blankets, was a bird. It cooed softly, looking at Sophia with big, black eyes. It's face was white and cream colored, beak opening and closing softly. "Oh. Hang on there little guy." It was small, whatever it was. And, the poor thing's wing was angled weird.

"What's up there Sophia?" Bella called a little worried. Not sure how to answer, she tossed the box down first, before scooping the small bird in one hand.

It tried to escape her grasp, chirping worriedly, and trying to fly away, but the one wing wouldn't extend as far as it should. Pulling the poor thing to her stomach, she cupped it carefully. The feathers were very soft, and it was calling out louder.

"Shhh. It's okay." Sophia tried to reason with the bird, and slowly tried to go down the ladder. Careful not to fall, she carried the poor thing in her arms, worried about it. Sooner than expected, her feet touched the ground, she had ditched her shoes last night, and hadn't worn them since.

"Woah. How'd you find it?" Ren asked amazed, he kept his hands to himself, eyes wider than the moon. Bella had a similar expression, before she rolled her eyes.

"No way are we keeping that thing." Bella groaned.

**Sophia**

"Come on little guy." Bella whispered, she held out pieces of worms for the small bird to eat. "You know, maybe your wing will be fixed if you just ate the damn- I mean dang bug." She corrected herself, when Ren and Sophia looked at her with wide eyes. "I thought you two were practicing with the sling shot." It had been two days since Sophia had discovered the bird in the rafters of the abandoned horse stall. And since then, the bird has clung to one of the children's shirts. Cooing, or sleeping.

"I… I kinda suck at it. And, we wanted to make sure Royal was okay." Sophia tried to explain, and also was grinning, looking at the bird.

"You can't name it guys. It's going to have to live wildly after the wing is fixed." Bella tried to explain this, she didn't want them to become too attached to the bird. "It will fly away." As Bella said that, the bird used its talon's to hobble over to Sophia's arms, and clung to her jacket. Cooing softly.

"But look cute it is!" Sophia gasped, and gave Royal another worm chunk. It screeched a little, waving one wing excitedly.

"I really do not need this to turn into some kind of Disney movie. No way are we going to have some sort of animal companion." Bella frowned, but as she watched the bird, she couldn't help but think that now that she said it, everything was going to try and go against it.

Ren laughed happily as he tried to pet the bird, who clacked at him angrily with its beak. Ren looked at the bird, mesmerized, even if the bird hated him. It was a pretty bird, and he thought it kinda looked like an owl. Maybe even sounded like an owl.

The trio plus the bird had moved on. Always moving. They were trying to get away. Trying to get really anywhere but where they were. Bella kept moving them north, and the gun shots behind them were a great reminder, as well as a great motivator.

The gun shots just kept continuing. They seemed to get louder and louder, more and more frequent. Bella continued to smile, and point the kids forward, saying it was nothing. But was it really nothing? All of the people they came across, how many… how many had died? How many were these people killing, or how many zombies were taking down?

"Think we're gonna hit the North Pole by the end of the month?" Ren grinned, laughing before he turned to Royal. "Wanna go to the snow with us?" The bird screeched, flapping its good wing.

"Not that far north Ren." Bella smiled. "But far enough. To get away."


	11. Chapter 11

The most beautiful sight was right in front of the trio, and each thought they were dreaming. They hadn't found decent shelter since the horse stalls, and right in front of them, was an old windmill. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Old cobblestone made up the walls, ivy grew up the stones, making it seem alive. The fan still rotated, giving off small creaks every eighth rotation. On every side, it was fenced in, tall enough fences of horses to remain within captivity. And, to make it seem even better, there were apple trees planted around the windmill.

"Alright, I'm going to go check it out, you two, climb a tree and wait for me to tell you its safe." Sophia grasped her gun carefully, the shotgun was strapped to her waist, her eyes steel. "Go!" Ren dragged Sophia with him to the nearest tree. As if they were monkeys, they easily climbed up a few branches, now completely out of sight.

They watched silently while Bella approached the gate. It was locked, a chain wrapped around the doors so it couldn't be opened, but that didn't stop the teenager. She got a running head start, and easily side jumped over the wood. The fence would have come up to just below her shoulders, but made it look easily.

Sophia admired the clear strength Bella had, she seemed so cool. In her ear, Royal cooed softly, and kept hitting Ren in the face with its wing if Ren came close enough.

"I'm gonna just say Royal is a guy. I mean, come on. He's a jerk." Ren laughed as he said it, teasing the owl as he kept just out of reach.

"Oh leave him alone Ren." Grinning, she took a moment to look away from where Bella had disappeared, to smile innocently at her friend. "You're just jealous."

"Sophie's got a boyfriend! Sophie's got a boyfriend!" Ren called out, laughing as if it was the best thing he's heard in years, and said girl's cheeks flushed red.

"No I don't!" Horror in her voice, she looked to Royal, who cocked its head at Sophia, and cooed more. "Awwww no I don't!" The blonde girl punched Ren lightly, still brighter than a stop sign.

"Come on you two." Bella was suddenly below them, hiding her amusement poorly. "It's safe, and warm." Excited about the thought, the subject of boyfriends quickly dropped, as the children slowly climbed down the tree. (Which by the way, they were pretty awful at, much easier to climb up than down. Especially with an owl clinging to your jacket.) The eldest patiently waited, checking the surroundings for anything that might have been amiss.

It was difficult for the children to hop the fence, but perhaps that was best for them in the long run, it would discourage others as well. So, Bella gave her brother and Sophia a boost before jumping over it herself.

True to her word, the windmill was safe. Once they were over the fence, a warm feeling washed over the group. Within the fence, nine apple trees were just far enough from the fans that it didn't touch. Unripe apples hung on the branches, and an oak door provided a little more precaution as you made your way to the stone structure.

Perhaps a little taller than three stories high, (fans included) it was pretty. A few openings in the stone proved to be glassless windows, on both stories. Bella led the group into the windmill.

Being only ten, Sophia didn't really know what windmills were used for, but clearly it had something to do with farming. Abandoned bags of corn meal were spilling out against the wall, there was a contraption that as the fans moved, stone bricks were being separated, then crushed together.

The entire windmill was built around the contraption, a huge column, wider than a tree supported the building, and it slowly turned. And around that? A spiral staircase. It led up to another platform, that was begging for the kids to explore.

"I'm going to remove this corn, to the forest. You guys can go set up upstairs." They shot off, whisper yelling as they tried to race. It was pretty useless, as the staircase was narrow, making it so the moment Ren made it to the stairs, he had won.

Pushing the trap door upwards, the top floor of the windmill was much more spacious than the lower floor. There were a few boxes pushed up against the walls, and there was a dos's bed near one of the windows.

Royal quickly was placed in the bed, and the kids decided on playing rock, paper, scissors to decide who had to go dig worms up for the owl.

**Sophia**

By the time that all parties were fed, as well as organized and comfortable on the second floor, dusk had fallen. Sophia and Ren were cuddled together, reading a book together by the light of a candle.

"See. This was a time called Ancient Egypt. And all the rulers weren't always grown ups." Ren explained, pointing to the different pictures, and Sophia nodded in awe. The large crates had been pushed atop the trapdoor, and they felt quite a bit safer than before.

While the kids read, Bella sighed to herself, cleaning out the pistol. She was worried about the kids. They were so young, and already, they were having to pretend to be a lot older, hell, so was she.

As much as she hated to admit it, she needed Sophia and Ren to train up quickly on weapons, or really anything. If something bad happened, like they were separated, or even worse… she had to prepare them to be able to fend for themselves. Sister instincts were kicking in, as she watched from across the room. Sophia was leaning into Ren's shoulder, eyes wide as she let Ren read and explain what he knew. Ren was her brother, and now, Sophia was part of their family. She would do anything to protect them, anything.

Wearily, she looked out the window that faced west, far off, the glow of a campfire could be seen.

 **AN: I mentioned this earlier, but incase you al forgot, Sophia is still the age she was in the show when she was lost, 10. Ren is 11, and Bella is 18. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! You all are amazing. -Z**


	12. Chapter 12

Throughout the following week, Sophia abandoned the idea of ever getting any good with the slingshot. That was just a fact. Ren had finally begun to pity her, and instead of trying to teach her to use it, they took their extra time to explore the woods.

Sophia and Ren never went toe far on foot, not _really_. But, they did go far in the tree tops. The forest was packed together so tightly with oak trees, that it was easy to jump from one tree to the other. So long as you didn't place too much faith in the skinny branches.

"Hey, look. Down there." Sophia whispered to Ren, pointing down below. His amber eyes followed her finger, to see the partially rotting flesh of a zombie. It was stumbling along, tripping over tree roots, and growling lowly.

Without another word, Ren grabbed the slingshot which had been tucked into his pants. The bag of pebbles hung from a belt loop, and he easily found one of the sharper ones he and Sophia had made from breaking chunks off of boulders. Rolling the stone between his fingertips, he leaned back against the tree, and held his breath.

Pulling the rubber back, Ren let the stone fly, which imbedded itself into the zombie's head, and in a gross squish, it popped out the other side, and the zombie fell to the ground. Not moving.

"Nice aim, wish I could do that." Sophia sighed, then looked towards the sky. The sun was nearly straight above them. "It's probably almost noon. We should head back." Preparing herself, she refused to look at the ground. If she did, then she wouldn't jump. With hands outstretched, Sophia pushed as hard as she could, snagging a branch of another tree with her hands, and in the same scry moment, she wondered if she was going to fall. And hen nothing happened, she swung her legs over until the rested on a thinker branch she could walk on.

"Show off!" The boy laughed, sticking his tongue out. He was decidedly worse than her at jumping through the trees, but in the words of Bella they both made 'decent monkeys, except they needed to work on their talking.'

"Hey, so…Renny," Fear grasped her stomach and Sophia paused. This question had been bugging her for awhile. "Do you think we're going to keep staying in the windmill?" Ren ignored the nickname, and stopped to stand next to Sophia.

"I'm not sure. I know that Bella just wants to keep running. To get away from… where my mom died." It was quiet, and the truth was in his words, but even Ren didn't want that to be the only reason they ran. Sure, Bella made a good case on going north where it was a lot colder, but, that had problems all by itself too. "But… I think she knows that we're the safest we've been in awhile here." Ren shrugged, before a grin took over his features. "Whoever gets back last doesn't have to cut up worms." And, they were off.

**Sophia**

Finding themselves back at the windmill, Sophia's stomach growled, and her eyes wide. Bella had set up a small fire pit while they were gone. Their pot was hung up by a strong branch going through the handles, then each end was balanced and tied to bigger sticks so it hung over the fire. At the base of the fire, there were a few kind of flat rocks, and some kind of meat was sizzling on it.

Obediently, Sophia took the small bag off of her back, and pulled out the plants that Bella had sent them out for in the first place. Burdock, that was what they were called, and they had to be boiled, sometimes twice to get rid of the nasty flavor. And that was what the smaller kids thought was going to be their evening meal, and maybe that can of beans they found a while back.

"Woah, Bella! Where'd you find fish?" Ren grinned, suddenly much hungrier than he was going to pretend to be. Not a huge fan of the stupid plants, he wasn't going to eat more than he had to, but now, he was drooling.

"There's a lake about a mile that way." The tall girl pointed over her shoulder. "But, you two need to be careful too. I came across an abandoned camp, not very old. There's people around." And, just as she said that, there was a howl, a very deep howl. Four others quickly joined the howl, and all three froze. "Both of you, inside."

They ran off in a flash, quietly closing the door, then running all the way up to the second floor. Royal was sitting in the window, and cooed at them, as if asking where they were all day. He flapped his good wing, before turning his head about 180 degrees, towards the sound of more howling.

Ren and Sophia carefully walked over to the window, afraid. They couldn't see anything, trees too think to see beyond four trees inwards. But, that didn't mean something could be out there. The howls were a long way off, and thankfully, they were getting less common.

"Do you think its wolves?" Bella was still below, but she was clearly working faster. It was still daytime, which was when the older girl insisted if they have fires, it was then. They couldn't risk light attracting things in the forest.

"I didn't know wolves lived around here. But what else could it be?" They were quiet after that. Listening for any indication that whatever they were, if they were getting closer. After perhaps 20 minutes, Bella snuffed out the fire, and brought the food upstairs, letting the kids find a distraction in edibles.

Watching her younger charges, Bella didn't want to admit the fear she was feeling. When she was scouting for water, she can across a camp. Although, it wasn't abandoned, it was ravaged. Blood was everywhere, as well as huge paw prints and a couple torn limbs. As far as she could tell, the canines, had their territory to the north. Behind them, there were more and more gunshots. They were trapped. But, for the moment, the windmill was safe. Hopefully one of the dangers would move on soon. However, for now, this was where they were. And she would take advantage of the shelter.

"Here ya go." Ren gave her a piece of crudely cut up fish. They only had one knife, and she laughed at the handiwork before gratefully biting into the bass. "Bells, could you tell us a story?" She froze, and looked to the kids. That's what they were. Kids. They were so young. How could they survive, they weren't even teenagers yet. They wanted a story. This was her little brother, the same who finally was tall enough to ride roller coasters a year ago. Innocent eyes laid on hers.

"Of course. Let me just finish eating first though, okay?"

 **AN: Hey everyone! Yes, we're finally getting to the plot. Sorry, took a little more of a set up than I thought, but I hope you all are enjoying it so far. After a couple chapters, the time jumps are going to be a little bigger. Let me know what you think, and thank you for all the favorites and follows! -Z**


	13. Chapter 13

Something was wrong with Bella. She was acting oddly around Ren and Sophia. Being extra gentle and kind. At first, Sophia had liked it, reminded of the world before all these monsters. But, she was treating them like little kids.

"Bella. Why can't we help you?" The day before, the teenager refused to let them go out and look for berries and fire wood. They were instead trapped inside. The dark haired girl looked up from the stack of firewood, her eyes were sad.

"It's nothing, there isn't much to do anyways." It had to be a lie. Food needed to be collected, Bella wanted to check out the forest for people, or signs of the wolves. Plus, water needed to be boiled, and Bella had been complaining about dirty clothes.

"Bells, Let us help you, we aren't bad at helping!" Ren argued, meanwhile, the youngest felt awkward standing there while the siblings fought. A sad whimper surprised them, and Bella was crying. Without thinking, Sophia ran forward, wrapping her arms around Bella, and Ren quickly followed. They were silent for a few minutes, nothing but badly hidden sobs. Leaning into their warmth, Sophia shed a few tears with her.

"I know you're not bad at helping. I appreciate all of your help. But..." Sniffling, they were pulled into a tighter hug. "You... you're still kids. And you've been amazing, but if you were to ever get hurt, I could never forgive myself." Bella sighed, letting silence engulf them.

Clouds hung low in the air, Royal was asleep curled up in the windowsill. By now, Sophia wasn't sure how long its been since she had seen her mother... and silently, she wondered if Carol missed her. What about the other people? And the adults? Some of them looked at Sophia like he was a bug. Annoying and inconvenient. But, Ren and Bella? They were nice.

"Come on. Here's what we'll do. I know it doesn't make any sense to kee you two locked up in here. So, I'll teach you how to do some of the jobs." Breaking the silence after awhile, if they were using their weight, like all the adults did, then maybe Sophia could go back to her mom soon. And protect her.

**Sophia**

"Ewwww." Ren gagged as he poked the fish with a stick. True to her word, Ren's sister was teaching them how to clean fish. Definitely a disgusting job. Scowling at the other boy, Sophia tossed the extra skin into the river.

"Ren, just get it over with, you're a scary cat." Ren ignored Sophia's teasing, and opted to hold the fishing rod while the girls cleaned the fish.

"Just ignore him Soph." Bella laughed, the mood around them had turned around. Still a little somber, but nothing so terrible. A soft 'who' from next to them, and then, Sophia gagged.

"Royal! You killed a mouse?" Said owl was preening, and eating the first food that wasn't worms. "Gross." The owl was getting better. He still couldn't fly yet, but managed to disappear every once in while from their camp.

**Sophia**

It didn't take too long for Sophia to see the first dog. She and Ren had ventured out into the forest that morning, Bella had asked them to go fishing again, something about drying out the meat for winter. Bella was busy setting up noise traps within the fences, if anything found its way inside that was bigger than a squirrel, they would know.

The kids were sitting on a tree branch, holding the makeshift fishing pole they made. Luckily they had enough fishing line that they could sit on the tree hanging over the lake and fish. It was probably for that reason, that the dog didn't maul them.

"Oh, and then, I would totally make a chocolate cake, and-" Sophia's dream was cut off by Ren's scared look, and he covered her mouth. If his hand wasn't shaking, perhaps she would have thought it to be a bad joke. But, she followed his finger, pointing about 200 yards away.

It was too far away to make out exactly what it was, but there was a huge four legged animal. It reminded Sophia of her old neighbor's dog, a mean Pit Bull, and if that's what this one was, she was incredibly worried. It's was sniffing around the river bank, digging around for _something._

"Do you think?" Barely even audible, they pulled their feet up to their chests. Ren nodded slowly, and, another figure stepped out from the woods. This one was even bigger than the last, and bulkier too on its four legs.

The children saw it before the dogs did. A zombie, it stumbled out of the forest, attracted by the sound of living things no doubt. And, the moment the dogs noticed it was there, they burst into action. The bigger one tackled it in one fluid movement, and the other one began ripping it apart from the head down. After they had completely killed it, the bigger one raised its head to the sky, and began a deep howl.

Sophia wasn't ashamed to admit she clung to Ren, the sound had haunted her dreams the past couple nights, but up close, seeing rabid animals just as ferocious as zombies, but even faster.

In a matter of seconds, more howls joined in. The brunette boy hugged her back, trying to be reassuring. If they were this loud... were they purposely attracting the zombies here? It couldn't be safe... right?

They got their answer, as the dogs began eating the dead person, and Sophia nearly lost her lunch of fish and peaches. Forcing her eyes closed, images of dogs eating her came to mind.

"They're just dogs. Just dogs." Whispering to herself, Ren nodded slowly, they were both shaking. "We should go. We really should go back." The mere thought of being able to churn up around the embers of a fire sounded nice, eating those sweet berries Bella had found yesterday. Even if they didn't get fish, she doubted that anyone would be upset about that. What could these monsters do to her and Ren?

"Come on, quiet. We'll go by the trees." Ren pulled her to her feet, and they both clung to the trunk, stabilizing themselves before even turning back the way they came. "We'll have to tell Bella to travel like we do. If we go in the trees, we won't leave a scent behind." This was suddenly much more difficult, Bella as too tall to jump through the trees like they did. And what about Royal?

They needed to get out of here, quick.


	14. Chapter 14

**So, a quick AN before the next chapter, a huge thank you to follows and favs, and a special shoutout to celia azul and TwilightEclps for your reviews, you guys are amazing! It helps to have you guys for encouragement! Oh, and also, on my profile, there's a poll on how often you guys want to see updates. How often depends on chapter length, so let me know! Thanks as always -Z**

Never before had Sophia been so quiet when she was this scared. The trip back to the windmill was taking much longer than it should have. They were everywhere. As far as she could tell, there were four different wild dogs. Just when she thought they have gotten far enough away, there would be howling or barking. They were still about a half mile away from home base, but how much would it take for the dogs to wander over in that direction? Especially with Ren and Sophia heading that way now… they might accidentally lead them back.

If they did, nothing would stop those dogs, not even the fences, she had no doubt in her mind they would find a way to get to them, or even get to them before they made it all the way back. Or, what about Bella? What if they already found Bella?

The bark under Sophia's hands was calming. _Breathe in, breathe out._ Reminding herself that she was currently at least ten yards in the air. Even a big dog like those couldn't jump that high, plus she still had quite a bit of tree to climb if it tried. And thank god they couldn't climb trees. Ren was a couple trees away, they had decided to split apart, in hopes to draw less attention to themselves. But, they were motionless, unmoving, because a big, black dog was growing close to Ren's tree.

 _Closer._

Soft footsteps brought the dog closer, too quiet in Sophia's mind. Birds had even stopped chirping, the whole forest knew this was dangerous. Across the way, Ren covered his mouth with his hands, probably trying to quiet his breathing, and Sophia's fear spiked. Their hearing was so incredible… how would they get away?

 _Closer. And closer._

As it moved closer, the scars across its back became apparent. They were long and shallow all across its back, even a couple stretched across its head.

 _Close_

Now, it was only one tree away from where Ren hid, Sophia's stomach lurched as a low growl erupted from the dog. At first, they thought that the dog had finally realized they were there, but a low melody filtered to Sophia's ears. Someone was whistling, and the tune shouldn't have been scary, but it certainly was.

 _'_ _All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel. The monkey thought 'twas all in good fun, pop goes the weasel.'_

 _'_ _A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for a needle- That's the way the money goes, Pop goes the weasel.'_

"Where are you fuckers at?" Jumping slightly at the voice, Sophia tried to calm her breathing all while staying quiet. "Now!" The dog straightened up, from where it was smelling, leading straight to Ren, and turned around. Moving towards the voice. A loud crack filled the air, followed by the pained whine of a dog. "What the fuck are you doing all the way over here." A deep voice sneered, before picking up the nursery rhyme once more, fading as he got further and further away.

They didn't move for at least three minutes. Afraid that the stranger would come back, they remained still, until the birds began signing again. She hadn't realized she was crying, until tears hit the back of her hand.

"Hey, Sophia. Let's go." Ren looked at her, he was trying to be brave, and at least that made one of them. Nodding slowly, she stood up, hands leaving the bark, leaving patterns on her skin from being pressed against it for far too long. "We'll be back soon." Nodding slowly, the blonde girl wiped away her tears, before spinning determinedly back the way of the windmill. The dogs weren't supposed to go this far. They would be okay, right?

**Sophia**

Before she even knew what happened, Bella welcomed them into her warm embrace, checking them over for scratches and wounds. She didn't say anything at first. Instead, she forced the two canisters of water into their hands, and cut an apple in half. The trio sat around a fire pit, the small flames were enough to coax the kids from shock.

Bella held out two outfits, which were surprisingly clean. Changing into the new outfits, Sophia welcomed a warm sweater instead of her t-shirt. Her pants were nice too, it felt good to get out of those grimy clothes. That just have been where Bella was while they were supposed to fish, because even Bella had a new outfit.

The dirty clothes were discarded to a bag, and maybe they would clean them up later. But, right now? Sophia was trying to work up the courage to tell Bella exactly what had happened.

"We ran into a bunch of dogs. They're what howls at night." Ren spoke, eyes staring off in the distance. Bella nodded in agreement, hugging her knees to her chest. "There's at least four of them. Down by the lake, they attacked a zombie, and killed it really quickly." Nothing else had to be said about that part. If zombies were brought down so easily, what about them? "I think they may have been smelling us a little, one almost found us."

Bella hugged them closer to her, and didn't speak. She smelled like apples and sawdust, and Sophia tried to take comfort in the older girl. She was so brave, and tears began falling once more.

"There was a man. We didn't see him, but… I think he controls the dogs." Ren's sister stiffened at his words, but didn't give anything away. Instead, she placed a kiss atop Ren's head, and kissed Sophia's head too.

"Well, he isn't here now. Will you two help me? we need to pick these apples before they go bad, or before animals come across them and steal them." The apples were indeed becoming ripe, and, they welcomed the distraction. At least for now.

**Sophia**

It was later that night, after Bella had shown the kids how to dry out apples so they would be good for a treat for months to come, when Royal gave a small coo. All three were curled up on the second floor, and Ren was reading the book of greek myths by flashlight.

Sophia turned to look at Royal, and was surprised to see both wings extended. And, the owl practically jumped out the window.

"Royal!" Running to the window, she watched in amazement, as his wings caught the air, and was whisked away. He angled his wings, and a couple flaps later, Royal sat in the window once more, looking very proud of himself.

Perhaps today wasn't all bad.


	15. Chapter 15

"Up and down the King's Road. In and out the Eagle, that's the way the money goes- Pop! goes the weasel." A very terrified Ren met Sophia's eyes. Scared into silence. "A penny for a spool of thread. A penny for a needle- That's the way the money goes, Pop goes the weasel." And then, the crack of a whip, followed by a short bark. "Jimmy's got the whooping cough. And Timmy's got the measles. That's the way the story goes, Pop, goes the weasel." A low chuckle, followed by a wild laugh. "A wind turbine? A fucking wind turbine? You mean to tell me, all this time, I could have been sleeping here, instead, I'm sleeping under an oak tree?"

"Actually, it's called a windmill. Go on inside." Bella appeared in the window, her pistol pointed over the fence. The last bit was directed to Ren and Sophia, who grabbed the knives, before running inside.

"Ooooo. Lookie there. Got ourselves a scholar." His voice was deep, much deeper than Sophia would have expected. And as they reached the top, Sophia and Ren pushed the crates over the hatch. "Now Missy. You're the one who raided me? Who else ya got there with you? Anything short of an army, you've got another thing coming." Bella beckoned for the kids to come closer, and so, they listened, shivering as they did so.

"Got more manpower than you do, Weasel." Ren and Sophia peaked around the brick, eyes falling on the stranger. A man, skinny, stood outside of their fence. He was ragged looking, hair all oily, clothes too big on him. A permanent sneer on his face. Two dogs, one a pit bull, the other some kind of mutt. They were both foaming at the mouth, and flinched when the whip moved.

"Two kiddies is barely an army Miss. Now, why don't you come on down here, return what you stole, and I'll make it quick." He grinned before whistling lowly, the two dogs rose up, growling could be heard from the second story. "Pop goes the weasel. That sounds quick, doesn't it?"

"Fat chance. Now, get outta here, before I kill you." Proving her point, Bella fired the pistol. The tree behind the stranger got hit, sending toothpicks everywhere. He just laughed.

"Fine. Fine. So be it. I'll be back though." The man relented, and god, Bella could have taken the shot. She _should_ have. But, he was still a person. He was breathing, and what about the two children behind her? They were just kids. This was a full grown man. An ugly one at that, but he was still human. They all did shit in order to survive. And, death by gunshot isn't something that Bella wished on anyone.

"Come back, and, I won't miss." Her voice radiated around them. _She wouldn't miss. Should kill him, and make the first move._ The two men in the woods were different. So _very_ different. They were there, pointing guns in their faces. Ready to do, terrible, despicable things to her. But, Weasel. Nothing more than threats. As far as Bella knew, empty ones at that.

That night, Sophia dreamt of monkeys.

***Sophia***

They spent the next few days in a quiet ignorance. Bella didn't mention the fact that somehow overnight, Sophia stopped complaining about missing with the knives, and instead landed a few. Ren didn't say anything about Bella, who was fortifying the fences. And, Sophia tried to ignore the way that Ren stayed up all night, watching. Listening. Waiting for an attack that may never come, for something that would break the peace.

They talked even less. _Thump. Wack. Wack. Wack._ Ren gave up with the knives, seeing how Sophia managed to stick a few in the trees, he stayed with the slingshot.

"You're getting pretty good. Didn't even take you years." Ren smirked from above. He sat on a low hanging tree branch, hitting apples off of a tree twenty yards away. _Thump._

"You're just jealous." Murmuring back, she let her hand slip to the blade. She wasn't sure if this was how you were supposed to do it, but after messing with them for so long... this was the way that worked.

"You're right, all kinds of jealous. Especially with that way you manage to sink the knife in 10% of the time." Ren laughed, and Sophia was about to scream in fake annoyance, when he tossed an apple at her, smiling. "Although, I am jealous of your voice. You should sing more." The words seemed way out of place, and she just stared dumbfounded at him.

"You're kidding, right?"

***Sophia***

Across the forest, a man sat with his back to a tree. He smirked, running his fingers along the silver of a whistle. Oh damn did he love this thing. He had picked it off of a walker awhile back, one that was cornering a dog kennel. Bing bang boom, now he had some loyal shit eaters. One of them was chewing on a bone, being obnoxiously loud.

"Get the fuck outta here, don't you got somewhere to be?" Even moving his hand toward the whip gave him all the power he needed, and the dog scrambled away. How amazing that felt, all this power at his finger tips. All of this. Even at the end. Now, just had to get his own castle, and he would be golden. Just so happens, that he knew where to get one. It even had a few subjects inside for him to control.

A castle, a garden of eden, subjects of his own rule, and god damn, there had to be other things too. Just waiting inside those gates. Perhaps they would obey the sound of a whip as well.

"Come along little doggies. We got some work to do." Picking up the whip, dogs came with him, following, "I've no time to wait and sigh. No patience to wait 'til by and by. Kiss me quick, I'm off, goodbye!" Ripping open the last chocolate bar, he hated this, they took his stuff. "Pop goes the fucking weasel."


	16. Chapter 16

Royal was pecking at Sophia again, which was really annoying at the very early hours of the morning. Outside, the sun hadn't even risen. Wanting desperately to go back to sleep, Sophia turned away from the owl, hiding her face in her arms. A few hoots from the owl was followed by a soft sound. Her hears picked that up... what was it. Opening her eyes, she found the big eyes of Royal, and he hooted at her once more.

Just as she was about to bat the bird away, she heard it again, it was a soft gasp. Confused she tried finding the flashlight that Ren liked to use to read. Blindly fumbling for it, her hands found the cold plastic, and she switched it on. Pointing it towards the corner of the room that wasn't lit by the moon, she gasped. There, sitting above Bella, with his hands wrapped around her neck, was Weasel. His oily hair hung in his face, grinning madly down at Bella, who's face was turning red, trying everything to throw the man off of her.

Sophia ran at him before she even realized what she was doing.

He had been kneeling on Bella's arms, he was much stronger than the older girl. Ren's head was bleeding, he was crumpled in the corner, not moving, and Sophia forced her eyes away from the gruesome sight. Instead, she tried pushing off Weasel. He was strong, much bigger than her, and he remained steady, just sneering at her, until she yanked on his ugly hair.

"Why you little shit!" He sneered, and Sophia did the one thing that came to mind, sticking her fingers in the creepy guy's eyes. He yelped in pain, falling off of Bella, and Sophia rushed to help her to her feet, only to be roughly pulled back by her foot. Loosing her balance, she fell, and almost on her face it her hands didn't block it, instead fell on her knuckles. Crying out in pain, she was roughly pulled towards the stranger who punched her across the face. It was an awful pain, shooting everywhere, radiating from her cheek.

Gasping in pain, Sophia felt paralyzed, this man was so much bigger than her, what could she do? Flailing, she tried to keep him from hitting her again, and as his knuckles found her stomach, she kicked up, hitting right between his legs. She got in trouble for that one time back in kindergarten, and it seemed to hurt Weasel even more than it did to that first grader. He doubled over in pain, swearing and using words that Sophia had only heard her father use to her mother.

Stumbling up, she tried to wipe away the tears. She had to get away, and then she saw the window. It was stupid, and dangerous, and Bella had yelled at them when they first tried it. But Sophia needed to get away. Running to the window, her hands found the small cloth holding the knives. She had been practicing.

"Get back here!" He yelled behind her, and she didn't even have a chance to hesitate, she just jumped. Reaching forward, she yelped in pain as he arms caught the branch, yanking her arms nearly out of their socket.

Then the barking and howling started. The dogs were right under her, jumping and trying to tug on her leg. Heart racing, breath fast, she had to live. _"This is how we both survive."_ She lived that day in the woods, there had to be a reason. Somehow, her left foot found traction, and she was able to push and pull herself onto a branch, to safety.

When she managed to look up to the window, she was surprised to find Bella punching Weasel, they were fighting, yelling. So, Sophia wasn't too late. Turning her attention to the ground, the dogs were still there. Nervously, she looked at the dogs. They were rabid, they were scary, and, they were scared of Weasel. Foaming at the mouth, they were sick, she shivered.

"Fuck!" Safe for the moment, she looked up just in time to see Weasel fall from the window. Horror in her eyes, Sophia watched as Bella tried to grab his arm, his hand, anything, but he fell. A sickening crunch followed, and the howls stopped. Nearly gagging, Sophia couldn't turn away as the dogs surrounded their former master and tore him apart.

"Sophia, honey. Look away." Bella's voice was hoarse, like she had strep throat. Obediently, Sophia turned her head upwards, looking to the moon, trying to not hear the awful sounds coming from below.

"Is Ren okay?" Her voice didn't sound familiar to her own ears, hugging the tree. She needed the boy to be safe, to be fine. Why hadn't Weasel come after her when she was asleep? Where was Royal?

"I think so, he just got knocked out." Sophia exhaled, relieved, before she looked down once more. The bloodied form of what once was a man was being dragged off by the wild dogs. It was a sight she would never forget, and as the pack left through the open gate, one dog stopped and looked back, meeting Sophia's gaze, before uttering a deep howl that seemed to shake the tree. And then... they were gone.

**Sophia**

Sophia refused to leave the tree until the sun rose. Bella had long since closed the gates, triple locking it, then barricading them. Slowly leaving the tree, she dropped to the ground, looking at the spot where the man had fallen. There wasn't even any blood, which she found hard to believe, but there wasn't even any sign of the man, besides bruises around Bella's neck, on Sophia's face, the wound on Ren's head, and a black whip that laid on the ground, forgotten.

Royal showed up later that day, presenting his latest catch, a squirrel before eating it, much to the girls' disgust. Ren was still unconscious, so, Bella and Sophia took turns preparing food and watching over the black haired boy.

"How did you wake up? He silenced me, and must have gone after Ren before me. I didn't make enough noise to wake you up." Bella asked after a while, sharing a can of peaches as a treat with Sophia.

"Royal. He woke me up." Said owl was cleaning his feathers, hooting softly when his name was called. Petting the soft feathers, Sophia liked the owl, and he was even growing on Bella. Her gaze softened, and she reached out to pet Royal as well. "I thought he was just being annoying per usual."

"Uggg, when isn't he being annoying?" Ren groaned, and the girls quickly went to check over him. "What happened?"

They spent the rest of the day explaining to Ren what happened as they treated his wounds. He was angry, but looked just as repulsed as Sophia when he heard what became of Weasel.

**Sophia**

They never heard howls again, and summer bled into fall, before fall bled into winter. Walkers seemed to be less, and each of the three silently wondered if the dogs were still hunting down walkers. But, it gave them a good reprieve, time to get better, to train, to gather supplies, and to grow closer.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Hey all! Sorry totally didn't forget my password for a couple days. Whoops. Here ya go, we're getting closer to meeting up with the walking dead crew. Hope you all had a good week! Thank you for reviews, favs, and follows! -Z**

"Holy crap Sophia, watch where you fling that thing." Ren shrieked, jumping back three feet, eyes wide as he glared at the girl. She grinned, flipping the knife in her hand. The handle was a cool metal, a sharp bite of chill as if to remind her that what was in her hands was dangerous.

"I was watching! I wasn't going to hit you." To be fair, she was confident that when she threw knives now, that they wouldn't go way off target. Ren just glared before grabbing the knife from the tree trunk.

"Uh huh. Sure." Ren pulled himself up on a branch, as soon as his legs were pulled out of the way, Sophia stepped forward, slinging the knife forward. "Hey, have you seen Royal?" Their chores for the day were done. Ren and Sophia were in charge of collecting water, firewood, and food once a week. Bella was in charge of patrols, killing off walkers, and prepping food.

Now, four in the afternoon, they could take a break. They still lived in the windmill, and it was becoming much more homely. There was now a lock on the door, only Sophia, Ren, and Bella knew the combination. Bella kept a box of back up food, ones that wouldn't go bad.

"No." She frowned, looking up to the window that the owl normally sat in during the day, sleeping. Normally, he sat there, head tucked under his wing, cooing from time to time. "Lately, he's been gone." She hummed, questioning exactly where the owl was.

"Do you think he's finally going wild?" The thought made her sad, their little owl, was he really leaving them? Faintly, she heard a groan, the gross hisses and moans from the undead. Ren sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got it." There was something about being within the gates, that made them feel so much safer. The monsters on the outside never seemed so scary. But, if they stepped outside, or ran into one while on a fishing trip, the fear was a hundred times worse.

There was a soft banging on the side of the fence, pointing to where it was. Ren climbed higher in the tree while pulling out his slingshot. They were both getting pretty good at climbing the trees, her hands were becoming calloused from having to catch herself, or support on the branches. The girl watched as he climbed through the branches. Carefully avoiding the newly sprouting buds, in about a month the apples would be ready to pick again. For now, they were completely out of apples, and they had to treat the tree carefully not to damage the future food.

"Holy... Sophia, stay quiet. Follow me." Ren dropped into a crouch, his eyes wide. Beckoning for his friend to follow, she did just that as Ren ran to the windmill, following behind him quickly, afraid of what they might find.

Bella froze, gun in hand as she stared out over the hill. The grassy knoll was surrounded by all lower ground, and it was only by chance that she was on the edge of the forest to see what was happening. It wasn't something she had ever seen before. There had to be at least 200 undead, all clumped together, moving as one. Headed right in the path of the windmill. Steeling her emotions, she had to get home first. Get home, pack up, and run. Pulling out her pistol, she breathed in deeply.

It couldn't stay peaceful forever, she knew that, but this reprieve was nice. And she ran, ran, and ran. Faster than she ever had. Weaving in and out of trees, she had to get there with enough time to pack up.

Sophia looked out the window, there were a few walkers, but that wasn't what got her attention. There, standing outside the gate, was Bella. Breathing heavily, eyes wild.

"Get everything we can carry, we have to leave, now." She yelled, climbing her way over the fence. Immediately, Sophia and Ren ran for their bags, packing up everything in sight, dried food was stuffed in the bags, clothes, water, everything. Just as Bella grabbed the ratty blanket in the corner, she froze, hit with deja vu. Because curled up in the blanket, was Royal, sitting on a nest of eggs.

"Crap." Breathing. What was she supposed to do? Leave the owl?

"There's a huge horde incoming. They'll be able to decimate this place. Take down the fences and everything. We have to leave now." Without thinking, Sophia secured the backpack on her, giving her free arms before looking at Royal apologetically.

"Sorry Royal, but we gotta do this." She swept up the nest, being careful not to squash the eggs. Royal squawked, screeching at her, landing on her shoulder and nipping at her head. She ignored the looks from Ren and Bella as they grabbed everything they could.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Ren pick up their stash of weapons, leaving behind the few books they collected. She ignored the twinge of pain in her chest, books couldn't kill a zombie or an unfriendly human. Cradling the nest, she ran down the steps, Bella threw open the gate, letting them run.

They were close, they could hear them. Trying to stay as quiet as possible, they ran through the trees. Inside, Sophia had to mourn the loss of their home. Gone. The sense of safety left her, and for the first time in a month, she idly wondered where her mother was, if she was safe. If she was still alive, did she miss her daughter?

By then, Royal just clung to her jacket, hooting, waving his wings around impatiently. The woods went on seemingly forever. They had mapped out quite a bit, they knew what they were getting into.

"We have to get out of the path. Come on." Bella urged for them to follow, taking a sharp right. They were running. Again. Safety gone, where could they possibly go?


	18. Chapter 18

Sophia was ragged, exhausted, dirty, and scared. Although, she wouldn't admit to the last one. It was non-stop running on their parts, it had been two days. Sophia shivered, pulling more blanket around her shoulders. This was the first time they had stopped since they left. Two hours ago, Bella had found a working car, and managed to get it running. Now driven to an empty parking lot, they could see everything around them for quite a distance, no way for humans or zombies to surprise them.

Sophia was on watch. Murmuring reassurances to herself, the girl pet Royal, who was cleaning his feathers. Ren said that Royal was probably a girl, all things considered, but in her mind, he was still Royal, the annoying bird, and definitely a boy.

She still had her knives thankfully, but when they took count of what they managed to grab, Sophia wouldn't admit she cried at the horrible situation. They had forgotten the shotgun. Now down to only the pistol, the older teen probably felt helpless, even if Bella didn't even look worried. She was tucked up in the drivers seat, passed out. Ren was in the passenger's seat, the siblings had similar mannerisms while asleep. Both slept with their right arm under their face, back up. Sophia sat in the back, Royal and his nest under the back window on the ledge.

Switching from looking east, south, west, east again, then north, she kept an eye on the horizon. The moment anything may happen, she would tell Bella and get them out of there.

"How are your eggs doing?" Whispering quietly to Royal, she pet the owl. He had forgiven her for snatching his nest. Black eyes looked back at her, twisting his head to the side as if asking her the question. "Bella and Ren will be okay. We all will be. We'll find a new home." She had no idea where they were now. It had ben a mad dash since the windmill, just running.

"Hey, Sophia. Go ahead and sleep, I'll keep watch for now." She suddenly found Bella looking at her, her soft eyes, and a sad smile.

"It's okay, you still need more sleep. I'm fine." The teen laughed at Sophia's response, shaking her head.

"No need silly. You need your rest too. I'll wake up Ren soon anyways, and he can watch. Just get some sleep, you need your rest." Nodding slowly, the blonde girl leaned back, taking a deep breath, trying to force herself to relax. If she was allowed to sleep, then she would need it.

***Sophia***

Quiet. Silence.

There was nothing to hear. Sophia hoped that was a good sign. They had come across an old farmhouse. The house was painted an old evergreen color, a swing on the porch. There was a tire swing on the big old willow tree in the front lawn. An overgrown path lead into the forest behind the house. There was a light rain, something that would most likely turn to a storm soon.

Knocking on the door. One. Two. Three. Nothing. No sounds, no noises, no sign of life or un-dead. Looking to Bella for permission, the older teen nodded while holding up her pistol, ready to back her up. Holding securely onto the knife in her hand, Sophia threw the door open.

Nothing. Inside it was silent, and what you might expect in a house pre-apocalypse. A few pairs of shoes laid at the front door on a mat, the living room was well loved, blankets and board games were everywhere. A dog bed sat in the corner. Ren walked in first, ready to shoot.

Passing the living room, next was a kitchen, which had already been cleaned out by survivors or the original family. Nice china plates still sat on the shelves. A couple photographs were scattered on the walls, bragging about the pristine five person family. They were probably really happy before all of this.

After making sure the bathroom and the pantry were empty, it allowed for the trio to ascend the stairs. Passing more photos, and even a framed diploma, they made it to the second floor. This was where all the bedrooms were, and they hit the jackpot.

"No way Ren. Look at these." Sophia grinned, holding up clean clothes, ones that certainly could fit the young boy. He grinned, ear from ear, snatching all the clothes from Sophia before pushing her out of the room.

"Gotta get changed." He winked before slamming the door. Rolling her eyes, she went to where Bella was. The older girl was fiddling with a leather jacket, trying to get it zipped. As Sophia walked in, Bella smiled and gestured for Sophia to come closer.

"Here, you'll look even tougher with this on." It fit much easier on Sophia, and it was a little baggy. "Leather is great, hard for zombies to bite through. Here, always keep it on, keep you protected." Sophia shrugged the clothes on, before she suddenly had three different shirts thrown at her. "Ren! Better get yourself ready! We're having a fashion show!" Bella suddenly shouted, grinning.

"You are so on!" Ren shouted back, a giggle in his voice.

Two hours later, Sophia had forgotten about all the shit outside, including what had now changed to a thunder storm, instead was much more preoccupied listening to the siblings squabble. Bella had her brother in a headlock, rubbing her knuckles over his head, laughing as he complained loudly.

"Okay, okay! I give up!" He laughed, trying to wiggle free. "Rainbow Dash was the best My Little Pony, and Cinderella could have done better!" He yelled, and he was released.

"Well, at least you know something." Bella laughed, turning to Sophia. "Hmmm. And… cats or dogs Soph?" Her eyes went wide, oh no way. She was not going to be pulled into this. Ren's hair was already more of a disaster than normal, she didn't need her hair turning out like that.

"Can I stay impartial?" Holding her hands up, trying to convey the best symbol of peace she could manage, although it probably wasn't necessary judging by what Ren said next.

"Both are awful. Owls are the best." And he shot off, Bella hot on his heels. What happened next… it happened much too quickly that Sophia would only be able to digest it in dreams.

Ren threw open a door, trying to escape his sister, and, a zombie fell onto him. Sophia remembered hearing her own scream, but frozen to the spot. Three zombies emerged from the door, which Sophia thought they had checked. Ren was already loosing the battle of keeping the one off of him, when the others nearly fell on top of him.

Bella charged at them, shooting one in the head, while checking the others with her shoulder, they all fell to the ground. Another gunshot. Ren managed to push the zombie off of himself, before sticking a knife in its eye. Another gunshot.

Quiet. Silence.

Then blood was rushing to her ears. Ren stood up on shaky legs. Bella emerged from the doorway, smiling at the kids. Her left hand was holding onto her shoulder, which was bleeding profusely.

She and Ren were crying, throwing themselves at Bella. Sophia's height barely reached her shoulder, and buried her head in Bella's good side. Ren was sobbing, squeezing his sister.

"Hey. Hey. It's going to be okay." Bella whispered. she placed a kiss on Ren's head, and then Sophia's. Her amber eyes glistening with a fierce bravery that made Sophia sob harder. "You guys are so strong. You'll be fine." Warm hands ran through Sophia's hair, and she nuzzled into the girl who smelled faintly of lavandar. "I was cursed anyways. Bound to happen at some point. I didn't want to tell you Ren. But… this gun is cursed. You have to promise me, you'll never use a gun." Bella began. "You too Sophia. Our mom. She wasn't killed by walkers. She was killed by her own gun, her own hand. It's time this gun was near used again."

Sophia didn't process the words, the horror still lingering in her stomach, but Ren only cried harder.

"It's fine Bells, you'll be okay." Ren croaked out, but he only received another kiss to the top of his head. A small silver bracelet was removed from Bella's wrist, to be placed on Ren's.

"I won't be okay. We all know that." She still had a brave look on her face, a few tears didn't stop that from being true. "But, you have to know, this wasn't your fault, or Sophia's fault. It's just the world we live in now. You have to promise me to be strong enough to survive. This is how you both survive." Bella spoke gently, her face was beginning to grow pale. Another tear dropped.

Quiet. Silence.

"I have to go do something important, but, I'll see you both again one day. Until then, go chase the sun. Don't let this stupid thunderstorm get you down, because, I find peace in the rain, and I hope, one day, when I see you again, you will too." She breathed, and Sophia refused to let go, only crying harder. "I will miss you two so much. I love you both. But please, let me do this." Slowly, Ren pulled Sophia back from their sister. Sobs tearing through their chests. The black haired girl had a gun in hand and walked to the back door.

"I love you Bella." Ren whispered, and Sophia could only mutter a me too through the tears. Bella looked back at them, still having that stupid smile on her face.

"One day, it won't be like this anymore." And she was gone. The door shut, and Ren and Sophia clutched to each other. Crying softly.

Quiet. Silence.

They didn't want to admit it when they heard the gun shot, they would never admit that they jumped, or cried themselves to sleep that night. Because, one day, they wanted it to be true, that it wouldn't be like this anymore. Maybe it would be quiet, peaceful. And maybe, Bella would be with them again.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: So, fast forward, Sophia and Ren are a bit older, and run into Rick and Michonne, takes place in Season 7, episode 12. This is when I will start putting them into the story line. Sorry about the wait!**

A few years later…

"You know, I'm eighty six percent sure, that you're just a pain in the ass." A white-cream colored owl screeched loudly in reply, waving its wings, trying to argue.

"I don't think yelling at Jack will help any." A black haired boy frowned, looking up from where he sat, perched on a tree branch, looking over the area below them. There were a lot of zombies on the ground. More or less inactive because they were the only living things that had wandered in lately, and thankfully they were ignored.

"Yelling helps in every situation, especially this one." Sophia argued back, all while smiling. "I wasn't yelling." She lowered her voice a bit, before poking the owl next to her. It snapped at her, not breaking skin.

"Yelling is great against zombies, our best weapon." Ren answered, frowning at the other. "Now, have any great ideas Soph?" There was a zombie at the base of the tree, growling at them. So, taking out his slingshot, he hit it, right through the eye.

"I'm full of great ideas. But, none of them can help in the current situation." Sophia sighed. "We need some sort of distraction, so we have enough time to get past those losers, and put something in the way of the fence. That way, we can go in, and grab what we need." Pausing, the blonde took in their surroundings.

Something awful happened here. There were zombies in fatigues, most carried guns. The place was huge, it had been one of those traveling carnivals before the end of the world. Fences everywhere kept the wandering, decomposing bodies in, as they walked past what remained of a ferris wheel, a giant slide, and a bunch of stands.

"If we wait for nightfall, we could set up a fire, maybe about twenty paces that way. Then, take them out as they're attracted to it." Zombies were attracted to light as well as sound, however, they didn't react as quickly.

"Then, when we have enough room, we can close the fence. Whatever idiot left it open, looks like theres still a lock on it." A pair of binoculars hung around Ren's neck, granted, they weren't in the best of shape, but they worked. "See, plan. You have all the great ideas, I just sit here, and look pretty." Ducking, Ren laughed as he avoided a playful slap from his friend. "Now, it's a waiting game."

**Sophia**

Maybe about an hour later, Ren and Sophia were passing the time by using some odd pad of paper they found awhile back.

"Alright. Soph, give me a noun." Ren was leaning against the trunk of the tree, a purple marker in hand. He grinned looking down at the sentence she was about to fill out, it was hilarious.

"That's the animal and place one, right?" She was a branch above Ren, laying on her stomach on the branch, which was quite the balancing act by the way. But, below, she was naming the dead.

"Yeah. I think you can you can use people's names too." Grinning, he wanted her to say something like Sophia, or Ren for this spot, it would be amazing.

"Go with flower." Stifling a laugh, that was her go to, and Ren hated it.

Their attention was drawn, along with all the zombies, to the main building, where some sort of bang originated.

"Looks like we're not the only ones here." Ren murmured, watching curiously, as a man and a woman appeared from behind the dumpsters. The guy had an axe, and with one swing, took out a walker.

"What are they doing?" He ran for the car, while the remaining ten or so zombies went after the woman. "Think he knows someone is in the windshield?"

"He does now." Ren laughed, as the guy jumped back in surprise. "Oh, they're probably gonna try and put the car in the open space of the fence." Ren put the Mad Libs away, before pulling out his slingshot. Sophia sat up, and dropped to Ren's branch so she could have a better vantage point.

"Woah, look, the lady is super badass. Sword and everything." It was true, both teens watched her, amazed as she swung the sword, killing in fluid movements. "Ewww." Groaning, Sophia could only imagine the smell that the guy experienced as he tried to move the zombie, and it pulled apart. "Why would he pull on it?" Blood was squirting everywhere, and she shivered.

"Gross." Ren crinkled his nose in disgust. The pair began pushing the car, talking quietly enough that Sophia and Ren couldn't hear. "Wait, have you seen Jack or King?" Sophia looked around, and shrugged.

"They'll be back." Watching the strangers, Sophia wondered if they could be friendly or not. Most cases said not. And then, gunfire began. "Crap! Do you see the shooter?" Stuck between trying to not get hit, and seeing their adversary, she craned her neck.

"Yeah. Zombie left his safety off." Lining up the shot, he whispered thanks under his breath, that the zombie soldier wasn't wearing a helmet. "Pew." And the shooting stopped.

"Looks like they're as good at driving as you are, Ren." The car drove through the fence, and the sword-lady jumped into the trunk. Only for the car to come to a stop directly below the tree that Sophia and Ren occupied.

"What are the odds? We're gonna help them, right? A couple kids saving some adults. I like it." Taking out his marble pouch, he readied his first shot, waiting for Sophia.

"Hey! Idiots in the car! Don't move!" Humor in her voice, she took out her own weapons. "I'm gonna get more than you."

"You're so on." And, they began counting. There had to be at least twenty surrounding the car, a few more stumbling towards it. Closing her right eye, she loved the feeling of the cool steel in her hands, and let the knife fly. A loud thunk. A zombie dropped, and the snap of rubber, and another dropped. The race was on.

Most of the undead below were soldiers, and a few had helmets, which meant, those were automatically hers, when she ran out of knives. Aiming for one that was trying to break open the windshield, she scoffed as it collapsed before she could throw her knife.

"Gotta be quicker Soph." His cackles filled the air, and she chose a new target, hell bent on getting more than Ren. It didn't take long for the numbers to dwindle, and even less time for Sophia to run out of knives, so she dropped to the ground, a small fence separated her from the car zombies. Getting out her trusty whip (which yes, she really didn't like after what it had been used for) but it got the job done.

It had taken a long time to get used to it, even longer for her to become actually lethal with it. But, with a flick of her wrist, the barbed cord wrapped around the head of a zombie wearing a helmet, and with a quick tug, the head squished. Shivering at the disgusting sound, Sophia ignored it for the moment in favor of grabbing another.

"So gross, imagine all the brains you have on that thing." Ren panted as he dropped to the ground, careful of his ankle. He had rolled it twice in the past couple years, wasn't about to do that again. Now out of targets, they turned to the fence. Hopping over the fence, she knelt down beside the first zombies, and began retrieving her knives. A rusty creak followed, no doubt the strangers deemed it safe enough to leave the car.

"The fence, now that the zombies are dealt with, we can close it, and lock it." She directed that towards the strangers... she was going to ask them for their names to make this all the easier, so she didn't have to call them 'the strangers'. "The lock is open, so close it, and we don't have to worry about the ones making their way over here."

Grabbing her knives, Ren handed her two, making the count seven. Perfect. Shivering at the smells wafting from the steel, she vowed to wash them well when she had a chance, cause it was putrid.

"Let's go help with the fence." The guy was pretty tall, bearded, and shaggy brown-grey hair, and almost sickly pale. The woman was just as tall, her skin a smooth chocolate color, and her hair just screamed badass, or maybe it was just the sword she carried with her.

It took all four to lift and set the fence properly, since one of the hinges were broken. After clicking the lock shut, the adrenaline began to leave her system, and Sophia just laughed. Ren echoed the sentiment, and elbowed her side.

"Looks like we're good, gotta get those crazies in there, but for the most part, shouldn't be too bad, they haven't even seen us yet. How many did you get?"

"Eleven. What'd you get, like four?" Sophia snickered lowly, Ren pushed her shoulder playfully before starting an awful victory dance.

"I got thirteen, not including Mr. Saftey-Off Zombie man. In your face!" Half singing, half shouting, he danced in place, sticking his tongue out at Sophia, before his gaze landed on the two adults, who looked incredibly confused. "Ha ha. Um, what's your guys' names?" If it was just Sophia and Ren, that would be fine, but it had been awhile since they were around adults who didn't shoot first, ask questions later. And now, they were looking at him and Sophia like they were insane.

"I'm Rick, and this is Michonne. Now, what are two kids like you, doing out here all alone?"


	20. Chapter 20

"Kids like us?" The girl echoed, confused. "Are you saying, that if we were other kids, you wouldn't have any problem with us being out here alone?" Rick faltered at her words, but before he could say anything-

"Think he lets kids do his dirty work? Sends them off like Hansel and Gretel?" The boy's voice became higher pitched as he talked, throwing his hands up dramatically.

"He totally does, look, he's got that gleam in his eyes." The two adults were at a loss for words, looking at each other helplessly. Clearly, they didn't want to harm, or scare the children. "The gleam of a madman, next thing you know, he's gonna have a hook for a hand." At exactly the same moment, both kids broke into a fit of laughter, leaning on each other for support.

"Hi, I'm Ren, and this is my sister Sophia." Ren introduced himself, grinning wildly. His hair was just as crazy, sticking up in twelve different directions. He had amber eyes, hidden behind goggles. The girl was a lot different looking than the boy, she had blonde hair, pulled back into a braid of some sort, grey stormy eyes, and a familiar demeanor that Rick couldn't place.

"For the record, we're fine on our own. Kicking butt, taking names." Rick exchanged a look with Michonne, before looking back at the kids.

"Where are your parents?" They couldn't be any older than Carl, he realized. They couldn't be out here all alone.

"Dead."

"Disappeared." Ren and Sophia spoke at the same time, before the pair sighed. "Now, we gotta go take care of the crazies, wanna help?" They didn't even give Rick or Michonne a chance to respond, before they took off running, straight towards danger.

"If they want the guns, we're going to have to work something out. We need all of them, Rick." Michonne turned to her lover, worry in her eyes. Not only about the gun issue, but what were they doing out here, alone?

"We'll worry about that later. Let's clear this place out."

**Sophia**

Sophia grinned, drinking a water bottle as quickly as possible. This was exactly what they were looking for, the building held thousands of food and water packets. Last night, Sophia and Ren had drank their last water bottle in their traveling rations.

Out in the field, Michonne was sitting down, and Sophia felt kinda bad for her. She had thought that Rick had fallen to his death for a little while. Clearly they loved each other, and when Rick didn't immediately wake up from his fall, her shriek of horror and complete sadness filled the compound. Luckily, that wasn't the case, he was fine. If that had been Ren, she would have probably had a similar reaction.

Rick was collecting guns, and idly, Sophia wondered how many people were in his group if he could use all of these guns. There was a huge crate that Rick had pulled together where he placed all the guns he could salvage.

"Oooooo. Sophia. Look what I found." Her friend suddenly came running straight at her, holding up a box.

"Lovely box Rennie-poo. Five stars." Giving him a slow round of applause, she should have known what was coming. She deserved it.

"Sophie! Phe-phe! Phe-phe should go pee-pee." Her cheeks burned in embarrassment at the familiar 'song'.

"Alright, stop with Grace's song. What did you find?" Ren carefully put the box down, revealing colorful stuffed animals.

"I was thinking these would be perfect for back at home. Plus I found this!" Excitedly, he showed off a couple of new books, ones that hadn't been exposed to the elements, thankfully.

"Those are perfect Ren, nice." The dark haired boy sat beside her, and gladly accepted a water bottle from Sophia. Looking out over the cleared land, Sophia sighed sadly. "Did you ever go to one of these things? You know, before?"

"A couple times. One time I won a fish from one of these, I named him Gerold. But the games were rigged, and the rides always were dirty." The sun shown down brightly on all the steel and plastic, fading the once vibrant colors. "You didn't miss anything." Ren didn't need to ask, and Sophia didn't need to tell, Ren knew a bit of her past, of before. He knew that she would have never been allowed at one of these places.

"Gerold is a good name." Admitting with a silly grin, Sophia hugged her leather jacket closer to her body. "Do you think, that they're part of that one group? The one always kneeling?" It was quiet for a while after that, bad memories flooded their minds.

"Not sure. Can't say I've seen them before. But, there always seem to be more of them." Eventually breaking the silence, Ren didn't want to believe that they were part of it. The two adults began walking towards them, carrying their load with them. There had to be more than 50 guns in their new stash, and if they were in fact part of that horrible group, there was no doubt in his mind that Negan might find them soon.

"You guys can have all the guns, if we get some of the food and water." Rick seemed to think over the deal, observing her and Ren. She guessed that the guns were what they were after in the first place. If it had been food, they would have been gone already, seeing as the couple had spent the last night in the building with all the food. Hopefully that was enough incentive for the adults to leave them alone.

"Deal. But, I have another offer for you." Rick didn't make a move towards his gun, so Sophia took that as a good sign. "You, and, if you have any others in your group, can join us. We have walls, food, the numbers." Strange. Sharing a glance with Ren, he shrugged, clearly this was her decision.

"Um…" Searching for words, Sophia didn't even know if they would accept her 'group'. "Michonne, do you think it's safe?" The woman looked surprised when Sophia called her name, she was still out of it, from the situation before. But, Sophia needed more than one opinion.

"Right now, we're having a little trouble with another group. But, with these guns, we will be okay." The woman seemed to believe her own words, so, Sophia decided to take it into consideration.

"We'll have to think about it. If we decide to join you, where do we go?" The older man seemed happy to have them on his side, before he pulled out a map.

"It's called Alexandria, tell the person at the gates that we've sent you."

**Sophia**

Now with more food than she has seen in a long time, Sophia grinned as she slowly drove down the dirt road. Miles from the carnival, miles from any other humans, Sophia and Ren parked the car under a canopy of trees. There were three walls made out of logs tied together, hiding the majority of the car.

Stepping out of their makeshift garage, Ren and Sophia locked the car, and covered the last wall with a wall of leaves and sticks, enough for prying eyes to ignore. The scent of the woods was a welcome sign that they were safe again.

"This is the heaviest wagon I have…ever…moved." Ren wheezed as he pulled, Sophia pushing, the forest floor making it even more difficult.

"Just gotta…get it…into the cave." Sophia urged her friend on, wishing they were twenty yards further already. The load was laughably five times bigger than what the wagon should be able to pull.

"Phe-phe?" Sophia peered around the boxes, to find a four year old, her hair tied in a frizzy pony tail with a purple ribbon. "Rennie!"

"Hey, Grace. Could you run and get Gabe? We need help." Ren smiled and waved at the girl, and Sophia was too tired to even greet her in words. Grace nodded exaggeratedly, before turning around, running the direction she came from.

They barely made it another ten feet before a familiar face came walking through the woods, with Grace on his heels.

"Took you long enough. Glad you guys are back." Gabe was only a year older than Ren, but was easily half a foot taller. They had met a few months after they lost Bella, he was on his own.

"Glad to be back, now make yourself useful, and grab some of this." Gabe gladly walked up to the pair, kissing Ren on the cheek in passing, before grabbing a small box off of the cart, and gave it to Grace.

"Would you be amazing and bring this inside Grace? We'll see you in there." Obediently, she ran off, already spotting the stuffed animals within the box. "Run into any trouble?" He easily took half the load in his arms, making it much easier for Ren and Sophia to push the rest.

"Nothing we couldn't handle. Although, we did run into a couple people. Think they might be part of a group that isn't those idiots." Gabe nodded absently, leading them ahead. "Any trouble here?" Gabe snorted, shaking his head.

"Unless you want to call hide and seek trouble, no. We were fine. It's your turn next time Sophia for babysitting duty." Gabe walked up to what seemed to be just another part of the huge rock formation they had been walking around, instead, he pulled the bushes aside, to reveal a doorway of sorts. Inside, they only had to walk a short distance, before the cave opened up to let in sunlight.

Inside, a camp was set up. Two tents, a fire pit, as well as a couple crates held the rest of their supplies.

"Ren! Look! I can hit the tree now!" Another kid came running up to them, his hair was a carrot orange, his freckles the same shade, holding up a slingshot that Ren had made him.

"Home sweet home." Sophia smiled softly, and the third, and final kid came running up to them, proudly showing off a worm he had found.

**Sophia**

Far off, miles away, Rick shot up in his seat, he had finally placed why that girl was so familiar. She was Sophia, as in, Sophia, Carol's daughter. The one they had lost long ago, before even reaching the farm. She was alive.


	21. Chapter 21

Unsure of how to proceed, Rick sat in the passenger seat of the car. They were on their way to make a deal with the survivor group in the junkyard. They had 63 guns to work with, 63 guns to bargain their fate. But, even if this could be the answer to everything, his mind wandered elsewhere.

It had been years ago. When he left Sophia in those woods all alone. He could still recall that look of fresh terror on her face, and he could even remember his own anxiety over it. She was young, and it was idiotic to leave a kid younger than Carl in those woods. However, he didn't have a choice.

Rick still felt guilty about it to this day. They never found her, zombified or otherwise. This could explain why. Daryl had found her doll, abandoned, they had to call off the search eventually. Carol was devastated. If their places were reversed, the old officer couldn't imagine trying to accept Carl's death, especially without proof.

Then, there was Daryl. Taking a look in the rearview mirror, he glanced over his friend. Everyone knew Daryl and Carol had a great connection, hell, it was Daryl who had organized the search for Sophia. If he told Daryl that Sophia was alive, then his priorities would be screwed when he needed the hunter focused on only the Negan problem. If he knew, then he would go looking for Carol, and then, together they would go after the girl, cause who knows where she went. Idly, he let those thoughts go, for now. He had to focus on Negan.

**Sophia**

It was supposed to be a low-stakes mission. Scout one of the numerous trucks leaving Negan's compound, and figure out what exactly they do, and where they go. No interaction, avoid detection at all costs, and don't get involved. Of course it went to shit.

By the way of very democratic means, it was determined that Gabe and Sophia would be going out. (Rock, paper, scissors) Ren had put up a fight, but in the end, relented, after being promised that he could have first dibs on the lemonade packets that were in the food stores they got from the traveling carnival. Secretly, Sophia was glad that Ren let it go, it had technically been her turn to stay behind and watch the little kids. But, she was feeling adventurous.

Awhile back, Gabe had discovered where Negan and his men set up camp, and to their best ability, the small group drew up maps, highlighting the roads to stay away from, as well as places that the Saviors worked with. It was still an ongoing project, but so far, it was working.

"I hear them coming." Gabe murmured from beside Sophia, his hand at his side, where his steel club laid. Ren and Sophia had come across Gabe awhile back, he was young for the apocalypse, just like them, and it made them kindred spirits immediately. He had been kicked out of a survivor group, they claimed he wasn't worth pulling his weight. He was dying of exposure when Sophia and Ren found him, because the group had dropped him off on the side of the road with nothing but the clothes on his back.

Since then, the trio had 'adopted' kids in their journey, either ones cast out like Gabe, or ones who had nothing left, like Ren. Now, they were a group of six, just trying to get by.

Sure enough, a red SUV pulled around a corner, followed by a grey pickup. From their vantage point, Sophia couldn't see the driver, but she was familiar with the vehicles. The grey pick up had wooden boards welded to the back window of the truck, most likely a zombie preventative measure, giving the pair a perfect opportunity to hitch a ride.

At the moment, they were hidden by shrubs, waiting for the truck to pass by. Since there was a bend in the road coming up, the vehicles had to slow down, giving them just enough time to hop on, feet placed on the lip of the rear bumper, hands holding on the truck bed, sitting back on their haunches so their heads didn't even reach higher than the truck bed.

Sophia grumbled as she bit her tongue during her quick movements, trying to soothe the sting. The pair held on carefully, ready to jump and run if the driver and passenger of the truck had seen them get in. The truck didn't slow down, instead, increased speed. They were safe, at least for now.

"When they start slowing down, we're gonna have to jump and hide. Get enough distance between us." Gabe murmured just loud enough so he could be heard over the rumble of the truck's engine. The metal was cool under Sophia's fingers, and she partially regretted not wearing gloves, as her skin already began to ache.

"Wanna bet on what they're doing?" Sophia couldn't help herself, as she began thinking of the possibilities, knowing very well that Gabe would take the bait. His shaggy brown hair hung in his face, but she saw the challenge in his eyes nonetheless, he was so in. "I'm guessing, that they're picking up guns."

"No way." Gabe scoffed. "They've got enough guns. They're probably supposed to find out who's been stealing from their stores."

"I'll bet you my book of jokes." She had this awful book of cheesy jokes, one she had found awhile ago, and brought out only in the most dire of circumstances. Or, just when she thought she could annoy Gabe.

"Oh ho ho, this is serious, is it?" He shifted slightly, so he could glimpse what was in front of the truck, they were still heading east, "And, I'll bet that box of chocolates I found back in that pawn shop."

"You're so on."

**Sophia**

The truck began slowing down in an industrial sector, so, without pushing their luck, they hopped off. Sophia braced herself, and when her shoulder hit the ground, she had to bite back her groan of pain. Not having a moment to dwell on it, she stumbled to her feet, before running for cover behind a broken-down car. The roads were littered with them, and she had no doubt that Gabe was utilizing that fact on the other side of the road.

Something bad must have gone down around here, quite a few cars were crashed into each other, or buildings. A few rotting corpses decorated the ground, but so far, none of them have moved.

Crouching, she continued to move forward, still hidden behind a car. In the back of her mind, she noted that the rumble of engines were abruptly cut off, so she peaked around the car.

The two vehicles were parked, and six people filed out of the car. Each was as intimidating, dirty, and sour as the one before. All carried guns, some were pretty heavy duty, which wasn't a good sign for her, at least as far as the bet went.

"What are you idiots doing?" She murmured, they just stood there, not even talking amongst themselves. Whatever they were doing, she didn't like it, anything complicated usually pointed to a higher intelligence. Which also meant someone powerful, someone with lots of guns, lots of food, and usually, lots of death.

The couple times that Sophia had come across 'Negan', she didn't like it. He instilled fear into his lackeys like no other, and she didn't want to find out what he had done to get that kind of reaction. The kind of actions that has gotten him soulless soldiers like the people in front of her.

While she sat there, she tired to figure out what they were doing, with no luck. Until, she heard another vehicle approaching. Her heat beat quickened, diving for a spot where the newcomers wouldn't be able to see her, almost eating dirt in her attempts.

This one, was a truck, and not a lame one like the silver one. It was built for cargo, and was quite a bit sturdier than that of a civilian vehicle. There were a few people standing in the back, and a few in the cab of the truck.

Slowly, they filled out, and didn't look very happy about it, she figured that these guys must be one of the groups that lived in fear of Negan. So far, she knew of one, and had no doubts that there had to be more, like these ones. It was like they were forced to be here. As she peered around the car, she saw maybe seven newcomers, all decked out in armor, which she could appreciate. At least they weren't idiots that though cotton was the new Kevlar.

They began talking, in short bursts, but Sophia was too far away to make out what they were saying, all she could tell from their body language, was that both groups certainly didn't enjoy each other's company.

In a quick movement, one of Negan's men hit a big guy with a huge stick, forcing him to his knees. Her hand went to her side, here one of her knives were tucked away. As far as she could tell, nothing happened that deserved that kind of reaction. But, she continued to watch their interactions, and she quickly realized she was right, about Negan's controlling these guys as well.

The new group had their own weapons, but didn't even retaliate, but they were afraid of the Saviors, who clearly couldn't give a damn. Whatever was happening, she didn't like it. And if Gabe had half a brain cell, which he did, Sophia knew he would be picking up on the same vibes.

It was tense, out in the strange, abandoned parking lot, the suspense was so think Sophia could have cut it with her knives. Slowly, the group parted for the Saviors, as one walked through them, towards their truck. She liked it even less as tensions rose, and then, guns were raised.

Cupping her hands, Sophia made a split decision, and blew into the cupped space between her palms. A shrill cry came out, a bird's call. She trilled three times, and stopped, waiting for a response.

It came not a moment later, two trills. 'Yes.'

Gabe would back her up on her play, she just had to make the first move. Even if this group was idiotic enough to get trapped in some sort of deal with the Saviors, it didn't mean they were bad people, just that they were dumb. Luckily, the groups were too invested in their silent staring contest and gun show to pay much attention to the bird calls.

They stood there, for awhile. Sophia had no idea what they were saying, other than what she guessed to be threats. Seriously, they needed to step away, before they all died. The group which was at the mercy of the Saviors seemed to follow one man's lead, he had silver dreads, and she had no doubt that he was trying to be a peaceful leader, as he passed over his guns.

They yelled again, and silver haired dude moved to the back of the truck, his hands raised in an attempt to show he wasn't a threat. Sophia hated this, whatever it was. Some sort of awful power play, as the group stood their, hands raised, fate decided by a bunch of psychopaths.

One man, a Savior, creepy long hair and mustache, suddenly pushed a gun in another man's face, and all of the 'good' group , the gunshot echoed through the compound.

The one who took the bullet couldn't have been much older than herself, probably late teens, falling to the ground, screaming. That, she could hear. The Saviors scattered, with one of of dreadlock-man's men trying to stop the bleeding.

"We need to go, he's bleeding out!" That, was loud enough for Sophia to hear, and she had to thank Ren for insisting that she bring along her medical kit. The Saviors turned back to their trucks, not interested in the other group anymore, so Sophia took the risk.

Standing up, she came out from behind the car, with her hands up in a portrayal of peace. Running towards the group, she anticipated the two guns in her face, while the others were trying to help the downed guy.

"Who the fuck are you?" One woman sneered, close to shooting Sophia. In her peripheral, Gabe stood up, revealing himself.

"Look, we can argue who I am later, I can help him. I've had enough of that stupid group to last me a lifetime, let me help." The kid screamed in pain, which helped her cause, because their leader turned to her. He faltered, probably wondering what a kid could do, but gestured for her to come closer.

"Let the strangers help. He will not make it back to the Kingdom." Sophia jumped into the bed of the truck, and Gabe followed. She pushed her bag into his hands, before looking at the damage. "Let's go!"

The gates were closed behind Sophia, and she decidedly cut everything outside of the five foot radius out of mind. Tearing off her jacket, she turned to the adults in the vehicle.

"I need you two to hold him down, I need to stop the bleeding." Sophia began cutting up the boy's jeans, and gestured to one of the men standing around her. "I need your belt. Gabe, get me the Witch Hazel, and alcohol. What's his name?"

"Benjamin." One person told her, and she held her hands out to Gabe, who doused her hands in the disinfectant. Then, she took the jar of Witch Hazel from him.

"Okay, Benjamin, look at me. Tell me when this is too tight." She met his eyes, and he was slipping in and out of consciousness, his eyes kept closing, but she took the belt anyways, and tightened it as far as she could. It would help a little. Then, she slathered plenty of the Witch Hazel on his wound, it was great for making blood clot. This was what he needed, since the bullet hit an artery. "Benjamin, how many letters are in the alphabet?" He was mumbling, which could be good or bad.

"We're almost at a safe place, where we have more medical supplies." The man in charge told her, and she nodded absentmindedly.

"Gabe, I need you to prep a needle and thread, like you did for Grace." Examining, his leg, she cringed noticing that the bullet was still in the kid's leg. "When we get there, I need a pair of disinfected tweezers, or something of the like. I need him to be carried as flatly as possible." The car stopped quite violently, and Sophia hopped out of the truck, ushered in by the adults. Gabe followed, working with a needle and thread.

Sophia didn't notice the woman standing in the garden, and the woman standing in the garden was too preoccupied to notice her, instead she went to the leader of the shebang, and did her best to clear a spot for the patient, her friend.


	22. Chapter 22

Sophia immediately got to work, ignoring the fact that this dude could die under her care. She took the tweezers from Gabe, before pointing to two of the adults in the room.

"Okay, I need you to hold his shoulders, you hold his leg. Once I get the bullet out, you need to hold his leg straight up in the air." Without even making sure they understood, Sophia began looking at the wound. Clearly muscle and nerves were destroyed, but that was beside the point, he was going to bleed out. Biting her tongue, Sophia dipped the tweezers into the wound, wincing when he began screaming.

"It's okay." Benjamin mumbled, eyes wildly searching the ceiling. It had to be far from pleasant, digging around in his body, looking for the damned bullet. Her tweezers made a small clink noise, hitting metal. Blood gushed out of the wound, but, she managed to remove it.

Across the room, Gabe noticed the adults whispering, the ones who Sophia hadn't demanded help her in trying to fix this guy. There was a woman, she had short grey hair, and matching grey eyes, hard as steel when her eyes met Gabe's. Beside her, was the man in charge, and Gabe could have sworn he heard someone call him, 'Your Majesty'.

Luckily, none of the adults questioned Sophia, on a, why the hell she was helping, b, how she came to know how to help someone bleeding out, or even c, which seemed to be a common occurrence, what were two kids doing, all alone.

"I need you to hold his skin tight... like that. Yeah. Alright, Benji, I'm calling you Benji, this is gonna hurt." Sophia spoke, her hands working fast, first, she managed to stitch up the bleeding artery, or at least, that was what Gabe guessed had happened. He honestly had no idea other than the bleeding slowed. Then, he held back his gag reflex, as the needle began going in and out of his skin, making an ugly stitch mark pattern.

The stench of antiseptic was already being over powered by the scent of iron, which now was all over everyone. Slowly, Sophia backed up, pressing her hand against Benjamin's forehead. A frown marred her features, before she turned to one of the men who had been holding the patient down.

"Do you have anything to bring a fever down, or pain meds? He should be stable, for now. He also needs lots of water, and sugar if you've got it." Now that the ordeal was over, or at least stalled for now, Sophia was coming down from her adrenaline high, hands shaking. Benji was pale, sickly pale, he had lost a lot of blood. Some of it even was on her. No matter. She would wash her clothes once they got back to their normal hide out. "Crush the pills up, put them under his tongue. It will go into his system easier that way."

"There are no words, to express our gratitude. Without you, I fear Benjamin would have perished." The leader walked up to her, he offered water and some soap, a rare commodity these days. "I am King Ezekiel, leader of the Kingdom." Feeling more than a little weirded out, Sophia accepted the gift, and let her eyes travel over the people who stood beside the 'king', now that she wasn't hiding behind a car, or busy trying not to get sick at how much blood was on her hands, she could get a better look.

A big guy, who she was almost positive got a blow to the face back with Negan's lackeys, a shorter man, who Benji talked with while he was lucid. One guy seemed to just be in shock, standing there, but his mind seemed to be on the moon at the moment. Then, the two people she had help her keep Benji held down. But, when she saw the woman, who hadn't been at the scene of the shooting... her mind went blank.

Nearly hyperventilating, hands shaking, blood pumping in her ears, and tears threatening to break past her defenses, ones she had set up, ever since Bella died. She didn't have time for crying, but... there, standing right in front of her...

"Mom?" Carol's heart stopped. It was like someone had kicked all the air from her lungs, and, she suddenly had her arms full, with a lanky teenager, crying into her shoulder. Unbelieving, Carol hugged her child closer, as close as physics would allow.

Here was her daughter, Sophia. She hadn't seen her in almost four years. Four years of believing she was dead, of hoping that someone had put her out of her misery, so her child wasn't stumbling around as a half rotted corpse. It didn't seem real, it couldn't be. Yet, here she was.

An unfamiliar sound hit her ears, until she realized, that she was sobbing. Carol wasn't there for her daughter, she hadn't found her. It was like all her dreams and nightmares had been confirmed. Her baby had been alone, lost in the woods. It wasn't a quick, merciful end, Sophia was still alive in this unforgiving world.

"Sophia." Taking in a shaky breath, Carol pulled back, only enough to look at her daughter. Long gone was the soft spoken child, one who had seen and heard too much in her childhood, for the constant fear of her father. No, in her place, stood a young, mature woman.

Carol could see herself in those stormy eyes. They had the same, almond shaped eyes, a pain deep within, but strength covering it. She was fierce, her hair was more dirty blonde now, tied back in a braid. She had a couple scars along her face, but nothing serious. Her child had grown up, forced to in this apocalyptic world.

"You're alive." Breathing in shakily, Carol, ran her hand along Sophia's back, trying to convince herself that this was real, that she was real. Her daughter was alive, and... so was Benjamin. But, Negan was too...


	23. Chapter 23

That night, Carol and Sophia sat by the fire, not talking. It wasn't necessarily by choice. But it was so _strange_. To be reunited after all this time. Sophia had just finished giving Carol a summary of what the past few years had brought her. Ren, Bella, the Windmill, the owls, Bella's death, Gabe, and finally, the three kids left behind at their home: Grace, Chance, and Valor.

Carol wouldn't let go of Sophia, she kept her held against her form. As if that would stop anything bad from happening ever again. She ran her hands through the dirty blonde, admiring the softness, even after all this.

Across the room, Gabe was checking on Benjamin. He wanted to give the two some breathing room, but at the same time, he was anxious. Sophia was their fearless leader, she wouldn't leave them now, right?

"Sophia, we have to go back, at least tell Ren what's going on. We promised we would be back before dawn. If we're gone too long… you know he'll want to come looking." Gabe spoke, more so looking for permission than anything. She may have been younger than him, but Sophia knew what they needed, and how to keep everyone happy.

"You're right." This was nice, getting a hug from her mom. But she couldn't stay here forever. Especially with everyone cooped up back at the cave. "We'll be back." Sophia promised, meeting her mother's gaze.

"I could… I have to stay for Benjamin. Please hurry back. And you can bring everyone." Carol asked, afraid that the moment her daughter walked out the door, that she wouldn't return. But the facts were there, Sophia had handled living without Carol, and surely, she could survive one more day.

"As long as that's okay with you. Grace is a handful." Gabe laughed at Sophia's words, agreeing with her completely, but every once in a while, she couldn't help but think back to when they had first found Grace..

 _It had been about a year since Ren and Sophia had lost Bella, and maybe seven months since Gabe joined them, when they came across a woman pointing a gun at a small child. They had been wandering, looking for somewhere safe to stay. So far, all they had was a car to get them around from place to place, which they had left a few streets back to explore._

" _Shhh sweetie." The woman whispered, tears streaking down her face, and the child in question was crying silently, face in her hands._

" _Hey! What the fuck are you doing?" Sophia yelled angrily. The kid couldn't have been older than 3. The woman's head snapped up to look at the three kids approaching._

" _I… I have to! All she does is cry. And eat. This is better for both of us." Her voice cracked, eyes wide. "It's better for you too. She just eats." She was clearly half insane, and the child on the ground didn't look like she had eaten recently._

" _Hey, how about you just walk away. We can make sure she stays happy." Ren offered, hands up in a pleading gesture. That made the woman even angrier, as she turned the gun on the three teenagers._

" _No!" She shrieked, her face screwed into a snarl. "She has to die!" Sophia reacted before really thinking out her actions. She charged at the woman. The woman screeched in surprise, and pulled the trigger, the sound deafening. Luckily she missed, and gave Sophia the chance to body check her, throwing her to the ground._

 _Ignoring her for now, Sophia scooped up the toddler, and started running back to her companions. She was frighteningly small in her hands, she could feel the bones, and the tears staining her cheeks were already soaking Sophia's shirt._

" _Let's get out of here!" Sophia yelled, completely frightened, clutching the dark haired girl to her chest. They ran all the way back to the car without looking back. Ren had to take the driver's seat because the girl wouldn't let go of Sophia's shirt. "Hey, you're safe now." Rubbing her back, Sophia looked over her for any obvious injuries. "What's your name?"_

 _She would never answer that question, even weeks after. So Gabe picked the name Grace, and they never changed it after that._

Gabe and Sophia left, going for speed. Ren was an anxious person, as most people were these days. But he was _especially_ anxious. Hey had no doubt in their minds he was growing worried about them, even if they hadn't even reached their ETA.

Luckily, their walk back to the car was uneventful, aside from having to duck into the woods every so often to avoid patrolling cars. Gabe climbed into the driver's seat, letting Sophia think over everything that had happened since they left their home base.

"When was the last time you saw your mom?" Gabe asked a little while into the ride, looking over to his friend. He had never heard any stories about Sophia before she met Ren and Bella. He just knew they weren't actually siblings.

"Um. I had gotten separated from our group. I was really young, and scared. I couldn't protect myself at all." Sophia hated thinking of herself like that.

That she used to be the dead weight. She didn't mind having the young kids around, not at all. But it bothered her when she thought back of how she just stood there, scared. Maybe if she was braver, she could have helped that sheriff guy, or made it back to her mom right away. Or maybe, just maybe she could have remembered the instructions to keep the sun on her left side, or her right.

"And the directions to make it back to our group… I couldn't remember them, for the life of me. So I got lost. And then after falling off a cliff, Ren and Bella found me. I never managed to find my group after that, I wasn't sure where to go, so I just followed them. And well, you know the story after that." Her voice died out after that, tears on the edges of her eyes, which Gabe didn't comment on.

They drove in silence, a respectful silence, until suddenly there were headlights right in front of them.


End file.
